By Rollo Ross and Danielle Broadway
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Jennifer Lopez found herself in tears as the real-life mom Judy Robles, whom she portrayed in the sports drama film “Unstoppable”, showered her with compliments for her performance.
The two real-life mothers formed a special bond while working in tandem to take Lopez’s role to the next level and connected on how mothers inevitably make mistakes.
“I don’t know of a human being who doesn’t make mistakes,” Lopez said.
“But for moms, it really is a thing where you’re always putting up the front of, like, ‘everything’s perfect,’ ‘everything’s OK,’ to protect your children, to give them safety,” she added.
For Lopez, women, especially moms, have so much going on behind the scenes, which is a belief that helped her performance.
“Unstoppable,” distributed by Amazon MGM Studios, had a limited theatrical U.S. release on Dec. 6 and will be available for streaming on Prime Video on Jan. 16.
The American biographical sports drama film, directed by William Goldenberg, follows wrestler Anthony Robles, who was born with one leg, and joins the Arizona State University wrestling team as a walk-on, eventually earning a spot on the team and making a name for himself.
His mother must find ways to not only advocate for her son, but also for herself.
Goldenberg aimed to add authenticity to the film by having the real-life Robles serve as the body double of the “Moonlight” actor Jharrel Jerome, who portrays Anthony.
Jerome said he became a changed man after working so closely with Anthony Robles.
“You hear actors say it all the time, I learned something, I learned something, but this truly shaped me and changed me as a growing person, as a growing man, all the way down to my physicality, how I move, my posture, my gym routine,” Jerome said.
He and his mother being so close to the production made things feel especially nostalgic for Anthony Robles.
“I feel like I go through the roller coaster of emotions all over again and I’m just traveling back in time, just watching the film and especially when I’m sitting next to my mom, because there are certain moments where she’s gripping my arm in the audience,” Anthony Robles said.
“It’s painful for us to relive those moments. But also, there’s other moments she’s grabbed my arm again, just happy moments. And so that’s something special for us,” Robles added.
(Reporting by Rollo Ross and Danielle Broadway; Editing by Mary Milliken, Alexandra Hudson)
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