Finally addressing her Oscar snub for "Hustlers", singer-actor Jennifer Lopez says she was "sad" when she didn't bag a nomination for the crime drama despite major buzz ahead of the awards season.
She starred as Ramona, the ringleader to the group of strippers who take revenge on their wealthy Wall Street clients. The actor also produced the film.
"Hustlers", directed by Lorene Scafaria, was both a critical and commercial hit, and was touted worthy of a best supporting actress Academy Award nod for Lopez, an overall first for the actor.
She was not nominated and Laura Dern took home the Oscar in the category for "Marriage Story".
"I was sad, I was a little sad because there was a lot of buildup to it. There were so many articles, I got so many good notices – more than ever in my career – and there was a lot of: 'She’s going to get nominated for an Oscar, it’s going to happen, if it doesn’t you’re crazy'.
"I’m reading all the articles going: 'Oh my God, could this happen?' And then it didn’t and I was like: 'Ouch', it was a little bit of a letdown," Lopez told TV veteran Oprah Winfrey during her "2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus Tour".
The 50-year-old actor said she also felt bad for her team after the snub.
"Also, I felt like my whole team – most of my team has been with me for years, 20, 25 years – and I think they had a lot of hopes on that and they wanted it too, so I felt like I let everyone down a little bit," she said.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences received a lot of flak for overlooking women directors and some worthy performances from actors of colour in its nominations list.
But Lopez said, award or not, she was content with herself as an actor after working on "Hustlers".
"I was a good actress — always — I can say that now to myself, but what I do now is so much different than what I did then. You realise you want people’s validation, you want people to say you did a good job and I realised, ‘No, you don’t need that. You do this because you love it," she said.
"I don’t need this award to tell me I’m enough," she added.
"Hustlers" also featured Constance Wu, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Lizzo, and Cardi B.