LOS ANGELES -- Jennifer Lopez made an emotional speech about how believers and skeptics contributed to her success, as she accepted a career achievement honour at the MTV Movie & TV Awards on Sunday.
鈥淚 want to thank the people who gave me joy and the ones who broke my heart 鈥 the ones who were true and the ones who lied to me,鈥 said Lopez, who nabbed this year's Generation Award for actors whose diverse contributions have made them household names. She also took home best song 鈥 a new category 鈥 for the track 鈥淥n My Way鈥 from the 鈥淢arry Me" soundtrack.
MTV鈥檚 youth-focused celebration of film and TV offered a lighter, breezier awards show, with 26 categories in gender-neutral categories like best villain, best kiss and new category 鈥渉ere for the hookup.鈥 Hosted by Vanessa Hudgens, the ceremony returned to a live format after being pre-recorded for several years.
Lopez shed tears as she thanked fans, her longtime manager and children for 鈥渢eaching me to love,鈥 bringing the audience to their feet at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California.
鈥淚 want to thank the people who gave me this life," said Lopez, 52, later adding, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e only as good as the people who you work with. But if you鈥檙e lucky, they make you better. I鈥檝e been very lucky in that regard.鈥
Lopez's first breakthrough came as a dancer on the 1990s sketch comedy series 鈥淚n Living Color.鈥 She pursued an acting career and landed a leading role in 鈥淪elena鈥 in 1997. She would go on to appear in such films including 鈥淎naconda,鈥 鈥淥ut of Sight,鈥 鈥淭he Wedding Planner,鈥 鈥淗ustlers鈥 and her latest, 鈥淢arry Me.鈥
As a singer, Lopez has earned success on the pop and Latin charts with multiple hit songs and albums. She released her multi-hit debut 鈥淥n the 6鈥 in 1999 and topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart with songs like 鈥淚f You Had My Love,鈥 鈥淎ll I Have鈥 and the remixes of 鈥淚鈥檓 Real鈥 and 鈥淎in鈥檛 It Funny.鈥
And in 2020, Lopez performed during the Super Bowl halftime show alongside Shakira.
鈥淪pider-Man: No Way Home鈥 entered the awards as the leading nominee with seven. It took home best movie, and the film鈥檚 star Tom Holland won for best performance in a movie. With almost US$1.9 billion earned at the box office, it was the biggest film of the year and a fan favourite, but was largely overlooked by the major awards shows.
Zendaya won for best performance in a show for her role in 鈥淓uphoria,鈥 which came away with best show. The HBO series also won here for the hookup.
Early in the broadcast, 19-year-old singer Olivia Rodrigo won best music documentary for her project 鈥淥livia Rodrigo: driving home 2 u.鈥 Rodrigo, who won three Grammys this year including best new artist, spoke about the importance of creating the film, which involves a road trip, live performances and reflections on her debut album 鈥淪our.鈥
鈥淚 made 鈥榙riving home 2 u鈥 for the fans, especially those who couldn鈥檛 come to see me on tour,鈥 Rodrigo said.
Jack Black also received a career achievement award, Comic Genius. He ran onstage and seemed almost out of breathe before giving his acceptance speech.
鈥淚 need a little blast of oxygen,鈥 he said before rattling off several films he starred in, like 鈥淪chool of Rock鈥 and two 鈥淛umanji鈥 films. He played in other comedies including 鈥淪hallow Hal," 鈥淭ropic Thunder" and the animated 鈥淜ung Fu Panda鈥 franchise films, where Black voiced the main character.
鈥淐omedic genius. C鈥檓on are you kidding? For what?鈥 he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 deserve this, but I鈥檒l take it.鈥
The ceremony kicked off with 鈥淟oki鈥 star Sophia Di Martino winning breakthrough performance for her role as Sylvie on the Disney Plus television series. After the actor claimed her trophy, she talked about being 9 months pregnant when she was offered the role, and her baby being just 3 months old when she started filming.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been quite the journey, so this really means a lot to me,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hank you to the audience. It鈥檚 all for you. Thank you for letting Sylvie into your imaginations.鈥
Daniel Radcliffe won best villain for his portrayal of a billionaire in the adventure comedy 鈥淭he Lost City.鈥
Diplo and Swae Lee performed 鈥淭upelo Shuffle鈥 from the upcoming 鈥淓lvis鈥 biopic from director Baz Luhrmann.
