Jason Statham once explained what it was like working with Jennifer Lopez

Statham didn’t have much of an opinion on his Parker co-star Lopez prior to working with her on the thriller. This was an attitude that Statham had about most actors that he worked with.

“When I meet somebody, it doesn’t matter who they are. I don’t have any preconceived ideas about who they are and how they’re going to behave and rumors. I don’t listen to all the crap that comes with it,” Statham once told Collider.

So when they first collaborated, Statham had little idea what to expect from The Hustlers star. But he discovered that the multi-talented artist was just a joy to be around.

“She was as sweet as they could ever be. She’s just a bundle of fun. We had great chemistry. We had a great time doing the job. The relationship between Parker and the character that Jennifer played was good because it was trying to be sexual. It wasn’t. Never could it get there. There was a lot of tension there. It was nice to play with that because she’s so playful anyway. It was most enjoyable,” he said.

Apart from Lopez’s overall attitude, Statham was impressed by what Lopez was willing to do for Parker. The film wasn’t exactly the kind of story that Lopez was used to.

“She’s just a true delight. She was way out of her comfort zone, but it was a great part for her. She brings this real likable street quality that makes her so approachable. She’s just fantastic to be around,” he once told the San Antonio Current.

Jennifer Lopez was at the worst point in her life when she did ‘Parker’

For Lopez, Parker proved to be a bit of a therapeutic experience for the superstar. The actor asserted she wasn’t exactly in the best frame of mind when doing the Statham picture. She was going through several changes in her life personally, and needed another job to help her through this trying time.

“When I did the movie, I had just decided to get divorced myself. I felt in that low place. It was the worst time in my life as well. This character was at the worst point in her life. I had that to use. Thank God I had that to use,” Lopez once told USA Today. “It was therapeutic. I know exactly what that feels like. Getting out of bed every day and getting to work is such a job. I’m not the type to do Ambien or wine or pills. When you go to work, you can’t be the person who puts that on everybody. You have to be professional.”

But the film also had a degree of hope that Lopez felt she sorely needed at the time. So when the film’s director Taylor Hackford reached out to her about the film, it was the film’s optimism that sold her on the movie.

“What I needed in that moment was [to know] that it all gets better. You just have to hang in there. It gets better. When [Hackford] first called me, I wasn’t thinking about divorce at all. Suddenly it happened and my whole world fell apart, and then there was this therapy of this character. Everything happens for a reason. It’s true. It actually is true,” Lopez said.

Lopez’s role in Parker also “harkens back to where my acting career started. I’m in a place where I have a lot to offer. I’ve lived a lot. I’ve lived heartbreak to incredibly passionate love.”