Could Selena have had a Jennifer Lopez type career?

Don’t you ever compare Selena to that can’t-sing, can’t-act, can’t-keep-a-man, no-talent hack!

Selena had a crazy, natural body and beauty. I think she would have been huge. Not sure she would have gone into acting, but she was already crossing over into mainstream pop.

She loved music. She never ever included acting an option. She wanted to tackle the music world and fashion world.

Selena would have been a huge star. She had crazy talent.

Selena and Ben could have been Belena.

R4 yes. But talent doesn’t transplant to success most times.

But she had that “it” to her.

But the question wasn’t would she have had a massive career. It was would she have had J Los career.

No.

Jlo was a decent actress

R2 and R3 Selena had a very small part in the Johnny Depp film Don Juan Demarco which came out shortly after her death. She might have dabbled a little more in acting had she lived.

I don't think the comparison of Selena and Jennifer Lopez is the right comparison. However, could Selena have been Shakira before Shakira?

R9 as in crossover to mainstream American music? Yes.

But Shakira would have still happened.

The much more interesting question is really, "Could Jennifer Lopez have had a 'Jennifer Lopez' type career were it not for Selena's trailblazing efforts as female Tejano superstar, pop crossover, and untimely death?"

Not sure, seems doubtful. Who knows what would have been JLo's big break (or if she'd gotten one at all) if she didn't have the Selena biopic lead as her career launchpad.

J Lo was a minor actress in Hollywood before Selena. She was cast in Anaconda prior to Selena and it was Out of Sight with Clooney a year later that made her big. Her music career only happened because Motolla wanting revenge on Mariah and her associations with Diddy and Irv Gotti.

I think Selena and J. Lo could have coexisted actually. Selena would be a pop star who dabbled in acting. Selena was American so she would have had no issue in Hollywood.

I agree with the poster who said Shakira is a better comparison to Selena than JLO since both of them were Spanish- language singers who broke into the American pop market. Perhaps Shakira is the one whose career trajectory would have been different had Selena lived.

R13 I think Selena had the advantage because she was American and English was her first language. Shakira may have just stuck with being a Latin America not a crossover act in the English world.