The afterparty for Jennifer Lopez‘s latest film, “Office Romance,” in the Egyptian Theater courtyard last night had a British Invasion theme with fish ‘n’ chips, models dressed as the King’s Guard and even a few Paddington stuffies — a reference to a gag in the Netflix film when JLo’s character reveals a secret kink for the English. Specialty cocktails included “Not Safe For Work” and “Worth the Risk.”
Lopez held court and snacked on hors d’oeuvres (as her assistant hovered nearby holding her signature bedazzled “bling cup”) while a smattering of the star’s greatest hits played. But it was JLo’s mom, Guadalupe Lopez, who got the party going when she hit the dance floor and cut a rug to the hits of Gloria Estefan and Bad Bunny. “Mama Lopez is eating y’all up on the dance floor!” a DJ accurately informed the Hollywood crowd.
Lopez’s longtime producing partner Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, who we previously exclusively told you was parting ways with the singer as her writing career takes off, was in attendance to hype up one of their final projects together as a duo. (They’ve still got “The Last Mrs. Parrish” from director Robert Zemeckis due at Netflix and currently in post-production).
Adam Sandler was also spotted at the party, rocking a neon orange hoodie as he made his way through the crowd with wife Jackie, who has a small (but memorable) role in “Office Romance.”
The only force that could remotely rival JLo’s undeniable star power came from an unexpected source: Abbey Romeo of the streamer’s “Love on the Spectrum.”
After the screening, Lopez herself had a fangirl moment, animatedly chatting with the newly single reality star and even taking a moment to meet Romeo’s mom.
“Oh my God, I’m so starstruck,” one Netflix staffer told me. They weren’t talking about JLo.
“Ted Lasso” star Brett Goldstein — who co-wrote and stars in “Office Romance” — told the crowd at the film’s Egyptian premiere of his initial pitch to Lopez: “’We wanted to make an old-school rom-com. We wrote this. You’re the top of our list. It’s a list with one name. If you say no, we’re not going to make it. No pressure!’” Lopez’s agreement to sign on was, “The evidence I needed to know that I died a very long time ago, and that this is some sort of mad fantasy,” Goldstein said.
In our unscientific study, “Office Romance” played incredibly well in the room, with laughs loud enough to miss some key dialogue. Goldstein and Lopez certainly have sizzling chemistry in the NSFW flick, and it’s a reminder that Lopez has been an MVP of the modern rom-com (see: “Maid in Manhattan,” “Monster-in-Law,” “The Wedding Planner” and “Marry Me,” featuring P6H’s own Ian Mohr in his debut and farewell role).
“The chemistry between Brett and Jennifer is magnetic,” Netflix film boss Dan Lin said. “I’m also happy that HR isn’t here, because this film might inspire some office romances.”
Some guests even quietly speculated that Goldstein and Lopez were engaged in a real-life “office romance” of their own – though the two kept things strictly professional as they mingled with their respective posses after conducting interviews together on the red carpet.
