Jennifer Lopez went blind and suffered temporary paralysis after extreme exhaustion caused her body to shut down early in her career.
The 56-year-old actress and singer recalled how she had pushed herself to the limit, working 98 consecutive days without a break.
Appearing on Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes' SmartLess podcast, Jennifer said: "I think I had done like four movies in a row. I had recorded second album, my J-Lo album, which was really big. I was working, filming every day … All the hours, then I would go into the studio at night, and then at the weekend I would have junkets or video shoots or whatever."
© Noam Galai"And I remember not clocking that I had worked 98 days in a row without taking a day off. ‘Cos we went back and counted ‘cos we were like: ‘What happened?’"
The warning signs on the 'Enough' set
Jennifer experienced a debilitating collapse while she shot the 2002 thriller-action film, Enough.
The entertainer recalled, "One day I’m sitting on the set of Enough and…every time I’m walking to the set I’m getting a little … pitter patter in my heart."
"It’s like rising … Finally, it got to the point when I really feel nervous. And I had the little girl [playing her daughter] in Enough. I had to say, 'I’m really sorry sweetie, I’m feeling really weird today, a little tired or something’ and she’s like: ‘It’s ok, you’ll be alright’…"
© KMazurShe continued, "But I wasn’t alright. And I went back to the trailer, and I sat down, and all of a sudden I just couldn’t see. I couldn’t see clearly, something went over my eyes, and I couldn’t move."
The ordeal sparked panic among her team
Jennifer said the incident terrified her assistant, who was also one of her close friends.
The "On the Floor" singer added, "I said to her, 'Arlene, I can’t move, I can’t see.' She goes, 'Stop it, Jennifer, you’re scaring me.' I said, 'No, I can’t move, you should get somebody. Get Bob, my security guard. I can’t move, and I can’t see.'"
© Antony JonesJennifer Lopez was rushed to hospital
Bob rushed Jennifer to hospital, where doctors diagnosed the Office Romance star with exhaustion.
She remembered: "I said to the doctor, 'Am I going crazy?' And he’s like, 'No. You’re not crazy. You’ve shut down.'"
