Time flies. No one knows that better than Adam Rodriguez, who reminisced about starring in Jennifer Lopez‘s music video 25 years ago.
Speaking with ET’s Deidre Behar on the set of his Paramount+ series, Criminal Minds: Evolution, the 49-year-old actor vividly recalled being cast for Lopez’s music video for “If You Had My Love,” the 1999 hit track off of her debut album, On the 6, which catapulted Lopez into a new stratosphere.
“I cannot believe it’s 25 years ago,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t know how that happened.”
Rodriguez appears about a minute into the music video, which has nearly 200 million views on YouTube. He sports curly hair, a white muscle shirt, pants and sandals as he leans back on his reclining chair while admiring Lopez showing off her dance moves.
“It feels like yesterday. I remember that moment in time. and I remember shooting the video. Paul Hunter was the director and Jennifer was just starting that part of her career. It was [off] that album, On the 6, [it] was just coming out and that really launched her, catapulted her to the next level,” he recalled.
Rodriguez, who considers himself a real J.Lo fan, is dropping truth bombs. The single, “If You Had My Love,” sold more than a million copies, and it enjoyed the No. 1 spot on Billboard‘s Hot 100 for five weeks. The track not only turned Lopez into a bona fide superstar in the U.S. but abroad as well, landing on top of the charts across multiple countries.
The actor recalls being friends with Lopez. They huddled together with a group of friends listening to her album, and the next thing he knows, she cast him for the music video.
“So, we knew each other through some other friends. It really was an amazing thing to watch somebody’s career blossom in that way, you know, catch that moment in time,” said Rodriguez of Lopez. “And God bless her. She sustained [and] got everything she went after.”
At the time, Rodriguez remembers the music video coming out but had no idea it would become a smash hit. He’ll forever be connected to J.Lo, an interesting nugget considering they never filmed a single scene together in the video. Still, fans geek out when they recognize him in the video, including the hair and makeup crew on Criminal Minds: Evolution, who happened to watch the video this week.
“I don’t know if it randomly came up on the TV that they have in there, but they were playing videos,” said Rodriguez before adding that someone on the crew recognized him. “‘That’s Adam!’ And it was like, ‘What?!’ And everybody was like [shocked]. We were just joking about this, like, four or five days ago.”
Of course, the rest is history for Lopez, who would become a global superstar in both music and film, with hits like The Wedding Planner and Maid in Manhattan. Rodriguez admitted he hasn’t kept in touch with Lopez, but he admires her success even from a distance.
“I haven’t talked to Jennifer in years,” he said. “I saw her at an awards show not that long ago. One of my closest friends is really close with her. I know she’s doing well, super happy for her.”
For Rodriguez, recurring roles led to main roles, like on Roswell, and then finding success with CSI: Miami, and roles on Ugly Betty, Jane the Virgin, and, more recently, Criminal Minds and Criminal Minds: Evolution, portraying Luke Alvez.
The new season of Criminal Minds: Evolution begins streaming on Paramount+ on June 6.
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