Anaconda viewers were in for a surprise when Jennifer Lopez popped up in a scene with the new movie’s star Jack Black.
“Are you Doug McAllister? You directed the unauthorized version of Anaconda even though you didn’t have the rights?” Lopez, 56, said in social media footage of the film, playing an exaggerated version of herself. “I saw your little movie, and I loved it. That’s why I’m here.”
She continued, “I’m here because we’re doing another Anaconda, and I want you to direct it. Are you in?”
Black’s character, Doug, fainted before he could respond.
Practice makes perfect! Jennifer Lopez‘s extensive filmography has offered the actress a chance to explore many roles — including several chances to walk down the aisle. In 2001, Lopez got to wear a wedding dress while starring alongside Matthew McConaughey and Justin Chambers in The Wedding Planner. In honor of the film’s 20-year anniversary, the […]
Lopez famously starred in 1997’s Anaconda opposite Jon Voight, Ice Cube and Owen Wilson. The horror flick followed a documentary crew’s adventure in the Amazon after they were forced to help a snake hunter (played by Voight, now 86) hunt a giant anaconda.
In Black’s recently released version of Anaconda, two friends (played by Black, 56, and Paul Rudd) attempt to remake J. Lo’s movie. Their filmmaking journey, however, takes an unexpected turn when they encounter an actual snake.
“I had some slight snake trauma in my teen years,” Black told USA Today earlier this month of overcoming his fears to star in the new film. “A snake got loose in my house, and we found it hours later, slithering out of my mattress. It snuck into a hole in the mattress, and ever since then, they haunt my dreams.”
At one point in the film, Black runs in the jungle with a 30-pound wild boar on his shoulders.
Jennifer Lopez and Ice Cube in 1997’s ‘Anaconda.’ Courtesy of Everett Collection
“That’s a complicated scene. There’s a lot of different angles and movement and energy,” Black recalled to the outlet. “The running through the grass on uneven terrain, that’s all hard, but the hardest part is none of those things. Pretending to be terrified for long stretches of time is so exhausting. That’s really the hardest part, weirdly.”
He added, “This is going to sound dumb, and I’m going to wish I didn’t say this, but people don’t understand how difficult acting can be. If you’re acting [with] extreme emotion, it’s frigging exhausting.”
Lopez’s OG version of the movie was also filmed in the jungle.
Dave Benett/Getty Images for One&Only Jennifer Lopez is in her busy era with her latest album, This Is Me … Now, and an Amazon Original. “Of all the albums I’ve ever made, I feel like this one is really ready for the stage because of the Amazon Original that I did with it,” Lopez, 54, […]
“You notice how there’s always a rat scene in movies? I hate that,” Lopez said in a 1997 interview for Anaconda, noting other film scenes were much easier than if she worked with mice. “It was my first time [in the Amazon] and I can’t say I’ll be going back to film. It was a tough thing to film, being on water all day.”
Lopez further explained why her version of Anaconda was “a rough gig.”
“You get water-logged, and you’re in your shower and you feel like you’re on the boat,” she quipped. “You’re, like, ‘Is the floor moving or is it me?’ … It wasn’t an easy job, but it was fun and we had a good time. We had a great cast.”
Lopez even praised Voight for managing to pull off “being entertaining and funny while still being threatening.”
“I really like the character,” she added.
Anaconda is currently in theaters.
