Image Source: Getty / Michael Tran [1]

Is it possible to imagine Hustlers [2] without Ramona's momentous entrance? In a recent actress round-table discussion for The Hollywood Reporter, Jennifer Lopez said her now-famous pole dance scene [3], set to Fiona Apple's "Criminal," wasn't originally included in the script [4] until she suggested it. "It was my fault that I was there to begin with," Lopez joked.

For Lopez, filming the opening number was terrifying. "This was the first time in a long time that I was actually terrified, really scared," she said. Why do it then? She explained, "It wasn't written in the script. And I was like, no, she's the big money-maker at the club — she has to show why. We can't say it, we have to do it. I have to dance on the pole, I have to show them, I have to go there."

To perform the routine, Lopez trained with choreographer and instructor Johanna Sapakie over the course of six weeks. In a video shared to her YouTube channel, Lopez offered insight into the intense process [5], which often left her legs covered in bruises. "It's rough on your body," she said at the time. "I'm just trying to look convincing."

Image Source: Everett Collection [6]

Describing the day she filmed the scene, Lopez said, "Then when I was there and I had the dental floss on, I'm out there in a way I've never been. It was so scary, I was so terrified. I have my robe on and there's 300 extras, all men." She added, "I think that was putting myself out there, in a way, deeper than I had ever done physically and emotionally, and playing a character that was that unapologetic in so many ways. It was so different from who I was."

Lopez's efforts will likely pay off, as she's expected to be recognized in the leading or supporting actress category [7] come award season, potentially attaining her first-ever Oscar nomination.