Jennifer Lopez and Antonio Banderas Starring in Chilean Miner Drama The 33

J.Lo will get her hands dirty with a movie inspired by the amazing story of the Chilean miners who survived more than two months underground

You could say Jennifer Lopez is digging this role. 

After telling E! News last week that she was circling a "small independent movie," the singer-actress has reportedly come aboard to costar with Antonio Banderas in the Chilean Miner drama The 33.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, which first broke the news, Lopez's participation marks her first big-screen foray since The Parker, her action thriller with Jason Statham.

The 33 tells the harrowing real-life tale of 33 Chilean miners who ended up trapped half a mile beneath the surface following a cave-in at their copper-gold mine deep in the Atacama Desert in August 2010. After a miraculous effort by Chile's government along with international drilling experts, the men were finally rescued 69 days later and all of them survived.

Hollywood producer Mike Medavoy (Apocalypse Now) subsequently acquired the rights to the story and tapped Banderas to play Mario Sepulveda, one of the first miners to be rescued. Nicknamed "Super Mario" because of his charm, Sepulveda has since become one of the key spokesmen for the group.

Costarring with Banderas in The 33 will be Martin Sheen and Brazilian thesp Rodrigo Santoro.

No word yet what part Lopez will play, but the ensemble movie is no doubt one of many commitments which the multihyphenate has previously said will keep her from returning to the judge's table on American Idol next season. 

 he 33, which is being directed by Patricia Riggen, starts shooting in Chile in the fall.