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Wit & Attitude Quote by Jennifer Lopez

"I'd be stupid not to take into consideration that there are certain things people will not consider me for because my name is Lopez. And I know I can do any kind of role. I don't want anybody to say, Oh, she can't pull this off. So those are barriers that you have to overcome"

About this Quote

Jennifer Lopez isn’t pleading for understanding here; she’s laying out the math of an industry that insists it’s merit-based while quietly running on shorthand. “I’d be stupid not to take into consideration” is a pointed opener: she frames the bias as so obvious that denying it would be naive, not noble. The name “Lopez” becomes a proxy for a whole set of assumptions casting directors can pretend are about “fit” or “marketability.” She’s naming the coded gatekeeping without romanticizing it.

What makes the quote work is how it fuses realism with defiance. Lopez doesn’t present herself as a victim of the system, but as a strategist operating inside it. “I know I can do any kind of role” is both conviction and rebuttal to a stereotype that still haunts Latina performers: the idea that they’re confined to a narrow palette of “types” (the spicy sidekick, the domestic, the seductress) rather than full-spectrum leads. Her fear isn’t failure; it’s being pre-dismissed. “Oh, she can’t pull this off” is the voice of the room she’s trying to enter, the preemptive smirk she’s trained herself to anticipate.

The subtext is exhaustion dressed up as professionalism. She’s describing barriers as routine, almost procedural, because that’s what constant scrutiny does: it turns identity into an obstacle course. Context matters, too: Lopez came up in a period when “crossing over” was treated as both opportunity and accusation. This line is her insisting that range isn’t a special favor granted to her; it’s the baseline she’s owed, even if she has to fight for it.

Quote Details

TopicEquality
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Lopez, Jennifer. (2026, January 14). I'd be stupid not to take into consideration that there are certain things people will not consider me for because my name is Lopez. And I know I can do any kind of role. I don't want anybody to say, Oh, she can't pull this off. So those are barriers that you have to overcome. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/id-be-stupid-not-to-take-into-consideration-that-31875/

Chicago Style
Lopez, Jennifer. "I'd be stupid not to take into consideration that there are certain things people will not consider me for because my name is Lopez. And I know I can do any kind of role. I don't want anybody to say, Oh, she can't pull this off. So those are barriers that you have to overcome." FixQuotes. January 14, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/id-be-stupid-not-to-take-into-consideration-that-31875/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I'd be stupid not to take into consideration that there are certain things people will not consider me for because my name is Lopez. And I know I can do any kind of role. I don't want anybody to say, Oh, she can't pull this off. So those are barriers that you have to overcome." FixQuotes, 14 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/id-be-stupid-not-to-take-into-consideration-that-31875/. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.

More Quotes by Jennifer Add to List
Jennifer Lopez on Overcoming Barriers in Hollywood
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About the Author

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez (born July 24, 1970) is a Musician from USA.

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