Singer-actor Jennifer Lopez paid tribute to slain Mexican-American icon Selena Quintanilla ahead of her 25th death anniversary.
Lopez had famously portrayed Quintanilla in the 1997 biographical film "Selena", which came two years after her death in 1995.
The "Hustlers" star posted a video on Instagram, where she called upon her fans to celebrate the life of Quintanilla.
"Join me today in #CelebratingSelena. I can't believe it's been 23 years since this incredible movie came out and 25 years since her passing.
"Selena was such an inspiration to me and I was so lucky to be chosen to play her. As an artist, this movie truly was an experience I'm going to remember for the rest of my life," Lopez wrote in the caption.
In the video, Lopez discussed what motivated her to take up the role.
"She's just one of those very special types of artists that, with her music and her spirit and her joy and her heart, really touched people," the actor said.
She also explained how she got into the skin of the character.
"I will just go right back to the beginning of the movie in the first day of shooting and really trying to find the essence of who she was. She was an artist and she was singing from the time she was nine years old, maybe younger. Learning how she sang, all her mannerisms, how she danced, studying the tape of her became really important," Lopez said.
Quintanilla, who was regarded as the Queen of Tejano music, carved out a niche for herself as a music and fashion icon in the late 20th century, before she was fatally shot by Yolanda Saldivar, her friend and former manager of her Selena Etc boutiques in 1995. She was 23.
Quintanilla released six LPs in her short lifetime, the last of which, "Dreaming of You" was released posthumously in 1995.
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