Brett, what gave you the confidence that Jennifer might say yes to this movie?
BRETT GOLDSTEIN If I’m really honest about it, it’s insane that this happened. I accept that it is mad, but I felt like the script was good, and I felt like we’d seen something in her. There’s a difference in this film compared to her other rom-coms, which is, in all her other rom-coms she’s aspirational, and she’s kind of an underdog. In this, she’s the boss. She has it all, technically, but there’s something missing.
JENNIFER LOPEZ What I liked about it is that [the other characters] get her wrong. She is an intimidating, strong woman, but they mistake that for she’s a monster. The truth is, when you get to know her, as [Daniel] does, he’s like, ‘You’re the funniest, goofiest, most lovable person in the world.’ I connected to that very much.
The airline employees are either scared to breathe around Jackie or they agree with whatever she says. Is that how people default with you in real life?
LOPEZ One hundred percent. It makes you crazy because you’re like, can you just relax? I’m fine. I don’t bite — until I know you better. That’s from “West Side Story!” I quote it all the time. But I don’t bite, and I don’t yell, and I’m not an unkind person. People, just because they see you as this thing out there, it’s almost like you’re a two-dimensional character. Maybe he suspected that’s what my life was like. He didn’t know how I was going to be. He could have thought, well, maybe all these rumors are true.
GOLDSTEIN It was all a gamble because you can’t audition her. You don’t get to go, can we check this before we commit to making a whole film with you? I knew you’d be brilliant, as in, a really nice person. I wasn’t really worried, but I knew instantly when we had our first Zoom, and we were laughing. It was easy. It was nice.
