WENN

Jennifer Lopez was desperate to veer away from being typecast as “the maid” when she landed her role in The Wedding Planner.

The 51-year-old actress and singer tells Variety’s Power of Women Conversations that she had to really convince director Adam Shankman to hire her for the role of Mary in the film, opposite Matthew McConaughey, after being pigeon-holed in roles of “the maid, the Rosie Perez type roles, the dishwasher, the this, the that.”

“I had to kind of break out of that and convince somebody to put me in the first romantic comedy, which I think was The Wedding Planner,” she insists.

The On The Floor hitmaker goes on to explain: “I was, like you said, kind of hot at the time and you were my agent and you were asking for a certain price that you thought I merited and they were buckling back on us.

“(Adam) came to one of my record signings and he said give her whatever she wants,” smiles the star. “The idea that somebody like me, from my background, who was a woman, could garner that type of, you know, price in this industry. It was a big deal.”

Jennifer has gone on to appear in a number of romantic comedies, including upcoming flicks Marry Me with Owen Wilson and Shotgun Wedding with Armie Hammer.