Comedian and actor Alex Thomas—best known for his work on In Living Color and The Jamie Foxx Show—is giving his take on how Jennifer Lopez became one of Hollywood’s biggest names.
In a new interview with The Art of Dialogue, which dropped on Sunday, November 2, Thomas reflected on his early days on the iconic sketch series, where he worked as Rosie Perez’s assistant to the Fly Girls. That role gave him a front-row seat to the early careers of dancers like Lopez before either of them became household names.
“I was Rosie Perez’s assistant to the Fly Girls those first years of In Living Color,” he recalled. “That’s how I originally met Keenen Ivory Wayans and Damon Wayans before I ever told a joke professionally.”
Thomas explained that, back then, Lopez was “just another one of the dancers on the squad,” adding that while she was “real cool,” there were “two or three other chicks that were Fly Girls that were way hotter than her.” He emphasized that nobody could have predicted how big she’d become.
When asked whether he thought Lopez would reach her current level of fame, Thomas didn’t hesitate: “No,” he said plainly. “J.Lo is a good example of how the system can manufacture someone into being a star.”
Thomas elaborated that the industry often creates opportunities for certain artists based more on marketability than on raw skill. “Some people are super talented and can’t catch a break,” he said. “And then you get somebody with no talent that gets all the breaks in the world.”
He went on to describe how Lopez, at the time, fit what the industry was looking for: “They’re like, ‘Hey, there’s never been a Latina pop star. You got a big booty, you’re from New York, you got the look—we’re gonna make it happen.’ They manufactured the hell out of J.Lo. But she ran with it. I’m not mad at her.”
Thomas compared her strategy to Mariah Carey’s early collaborations with rappers, noting that Lopez found her own lane by pairing catchy pop hooks with a sexy image. “It worked for her,” he said. “It was almost like she was there to sing the hook, be cute, and get all the credit.”
Still, Thomas made clear his comments weren’t meant as an insult. “She’s not Aretha Franklin or Patti LaBelle,” he said. “But she made it work—and became a global superstar doing it.”