Jennifer Lopez Confirms She Paid Homage to 'Hustlers' During Her Super Bowl Performance
“That was my little nod to Hustlers,” Lopez confirmed to Fallon. “I was like, ‘I learned some pole things, lemme see what I could do, we can put it in there.'”
In addition to putting her hours learning to pole dance for the movie to use, she also wanted her performance to be a demonstration of power. “I just felt, again, like it was a very powerful move,” Lopez said. “It was like, ‘Look Ma, no hands!'”
Power moves weren’t limited to Lopez’s quick Hustlers call-out. She started her performance on top of a replica of the Empire State building to represent female power. “I wanted it to be like women were on top of the world, we’re on top of the world right now!” Lopez said. She added that she chose “Jenny From the Block” as her song for that moment because, “I’m a New York girl,” she added.
Lopez had a lot of choreography to pull off, but she told Fallon it didn’t faze her. “I’m good!” she said. “That’s what happens, right before you go on you start getting in the zone. That’s why I’m doing all of those crazy things and my face is like dead face, because you have to stay so calm.”
Even with her experience on the stage, pole dancing was a challenge for Lopez ahead of Hustlers. “That steel pole is unforgiving, and you just have to figure it out,” she said perviously. And on her YouTube channel last year, Lopez revealed that she trained for her Hustlers role with the help of an aerialist and practice poles installed in each of her homes.
After all that work, we’re glad Lopez could give Hustlers its due on the Super Bowl stage. Watch Jennifer Lopez’s full interview with Jimmy Fallon, below.