Jennifer Lopez

Actress

• Born: July 24, 1969
• Place of Birth: Bronx, New York

AMERICAN SINGER, ACTOR, AND ENTREPRENEUR

Lopez is a renowned singer, actor, fashion designer, film producer, and entrepreneur. Recognized as the highest paid Latinx in Hollywood, her triumphs in the entertainment industry have been fueled by her risqué fashion choices, high-profile relationships, and reputation as a diva.

AREAS OF ACHIEVEMENT: Music; acting; radio and television; business

Early Life

Jennifer Lynn Lopez (LOH-pehz) was born to Guadalupe Rodriguez, a kindergarten teacher, and David Lopez, a computer specialist, on July 24, 1969. Both her parents had immigrated to the Bronx, New York, from Ponce, Puerto Rico. Lopez’s parents encouraged her and her two sisters to participate in extracurricular activities, such as dance and theater, in order to keep them off the streets of their rough Bronx neighborhood, Castle Hill. Growing up with dreams of being a dancer and admiring Puerto Rican actor Rita Moreno, Lopez dropped out of Baruch College in New York after only one semester to the dismay of her parents, who did not consider performing to be a wise career path.

Her big break came in 1990, when she was cast to be a dancer on the television show In Living Color. After the show’s cancellation in 1993, Lopez went on to star in several short-lived television series, such as South Central, Second Chances, and Hotel Malibu, as well as appearing in Janet Jackson’s music video for “That’s the Way Love Goes.” In 1995, she had her first leading role in director Gregory Nava’s film My Family, an epic that follows a Mexican American family’s struggle in the United States. Leading roles in the films Money Train (1995), Jack (1996), and Blood and Wine (1996) followed. Although Jack was not favorably received by critics, the film marked the first time Lopez was cast in a role not written specifically for a Latina.

Lopez and Nava teamed up again for the film Selena (1997), based on the life and tragic murder of the Tejano singer. Despite having already worked with Nava, Lopez had to undergo an intense audition process to prove she was suited for the role. Although Lopez’s performance in the film received rave reviews, the decision to have a woman of Puerto Rican descent portray the “Queen of Tejano Music” angered many in the Mexican American community. Despite these tensions, Lopez was quickly becoming an important figure in the Latino community and graced the first cover of the newly created magazine Latina in 1996.

In 1997, Lopez proved her ability as a box office draw by starring in the action film Anaconda. She continued to work relentlessly, appearing in director Oliver Stone’s film U Turn (1997) and director Steven Soderbergh’s Out of Sight (1998). As Lopez’s film career rose, the press begun to take notice of her remarkable figure. Often clad in risqué ensembles, Lopez became as renowned for her body as for her work, and she was included on People magazine’s 1997 list of the “Fifty Most Beautiful People in the World.”

Life’s Work

Having become established as an actor, Lopez set her sights on a music career. The idea of recording an album came to Lopez when she performed live for audiences while shooting Selena. She signed a deal with Sony Music and set to prepare the album materials. She began working with producer and rapper Sean Combs (also known as Puff Daddy or Diddy), but their relationship quickly became personal. Lopez garnered criticism for her personal relationships, as well as for interviews in which she criticized several of her former costars and other Hollywood actors, earning her a reputation as a diva. Her presence at a shooting involving Combs’s entourage in a New York City club led to even more criticism.

The release of Lopez’s first album On the 6 (1998) coincided with the height of the Latin pop invasion, which also catapulted performers Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias to fame. Although the album was not a critical success, On the 6 made history by hitting number one on the Hot 100, Hot 100 Singles Sales, and R&B (rhythm and blues) Singles Sales charts simultaneously. While “If You Had My Love,” the album’s first single, headed to the top of the pop charts, Lopez continued to make films, working on Antz (1998), The Cell (2000), and The Wedding Planner (2001). Her second album, J.Lo, was released in 2001 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart; the album included the hits “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” and “I’m Real.”

Lopez bounced around career-wise over the following years. She costarred in two failed films with Ben Affleck, Gigli (2003) and Jersey Girl (2004). She produced and starred in the films El Cantante (2007) and Bordertown (2007) and also produced the MTV reality television series Dancelife.

In 2007, Lopez released her first all-Spanish-language album Como ama una mujer. The video for the album’s lead single “Que hiciste” became the first Spanish-language video to peak at number one on the popular MTV show Total Request Live. Lopez then took some time off from her hectic film schedule to care for her twins, born in February, 2008. Three years later, Lopez became one of the judges on the popular television program American Idol, and she was contracted to be the “celebrity face” of several products, including the L’Oreal beauty firm, Venus razors, and Gucci children’s clothes. In April, 2011, People magazine named Lopez the most beautiful woman in the world.

Lopez announced that she would leave American Idol in 2012, but she returned to the show for its thirteenth season in 2014 and remained on the show through the show's farewell season in 2016. While serving as a judge on American Idol, Lopez also returned to her recording career. In 2011 she released her seventh studio album LOVE? She followed it up with A.K.A. in 2014.

Lopez returned to the big screen in 2015, in the thriller The Boy Next Door, which she both starred in and produced, and the crime drama Lila & Eve, alongside Viola Davis. She also lent her voice to the animated films Home (2015) and Ice Age: Collision Course (2016). From 2016 to 2018, she starred in the police drama series Shade of Blue. At the same time, she began a Las Vegas residency called All I Have and released the single "Ain't Your Mama (2016). In 2017, she joined the dance competition show World of Dance as a judge. Lopez released two more singles—the Spanish language "El Anillo" and bilingual "Dinero," featuring DJ Khaled and Cardi B—in 2018. Later that year, she starred in the comedy Second Act.

In 2019, Lopez starred in and produced the comedy crime drama Hustlers, about a group of strippers who con their Wall Street clients; the film was inspired by an article published in New York Magazine. Costarring with Constance Wu, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Lizzo, and Cardi B, Lopez earned a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actress for her role in the film. The following year, Lopez coheadlined the Super Bowl LIV halftime show with Columbian singer Shakira.

Amid the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which hit the United States in 2020, Lopez performed a cover of Barbara Streisand's song "People" at the benefit television special One World: Together at Home. Later that year, she released two songs with singer Maluma, "Pa' Ti" and "Lonely." In 2021, after performing "This Land Is Your Land" and "America the Beautiful" at the inauguration of President Joe Biden, Lopez launched the skincare line JLo Beauty and signed a multi-year deal with the streaming service Netflix to produce a number of films and television series.

In 2021, Lopez was the executive producer and appeared in an episode of Thanks a Million, a reality show in which celebrities gift $100,000 to someone who has impacted their life with the stipulation that they have to pay it forward. In all, Lopez was involved in ten episodes of the show's two seasons. She was also the executive producer of eighty-eight episodes of the Hulu streaming show Good Trouble, which ran from 2019 to 2024. Other projects for which she was a producer or an executive producer included Marry Me and Shotgun Wedding in 2022, The Mother in 2023, and Atlas in 2024.

Also in 2024, Lopez released a three-part multimedia project. First came an album titled This Is Me...Now, a followup to her 2002 album This Is Me...Then. She served as the executive producer as well as wrote and starred in the second part, a film entitled This Is Me...Now: A Love Story. Lopez self-funded much of the project, which tells of her time with actor Ben Affleck. The third and final portion of the project was a documentary, The Greatest Love Story Never Told. Both films were made for the Amazon Prime video service. A scheduled concert tour in support of the films was canceled so Lopez could concentrate on her family.

During 2024, Lopez had her first role in a musical when she filmed an adaptation of Kiss of the Spider Woman. She also worked as a producer on several projects for an undetermined later release.

Personal Life

Jennifer Lopez's personal life has often been the subject of media speculation. In 1997, she married Ojani Noa. While working on her first album, she started a relationship with Sean Combs. After much media speculation, Lopez and Noa divorced in March 1998. Shortly after breaking up with Combs, Lopez married her second husband, dancer Cris Judd, but the marriage was dissolved less than a year later when Lopez began dating actor Ben Affleck. Her relationship with Affleck was regular fodder for the media. After the dissolution of her engagement to Affleck, Lopez married singer Marc Anthony and retreated from the public eye. Lopez gave birth to twins in 2008. She and Anthony divorced in 2014. In March 2019, she became engaged to former baseball player Alex Rodriguez; they separated in 2021. Lopez married Ben Affleck in July 2022, but the couple divorced in September 2024.

Significance

As one of the most visible and highest paid Latina performers, Jennifer Lopez has broken down barriers in the entertainment industry. Her success as an artist has been as inspirational as her confidence in herself and her body, both of which have provided the entertainment industry with a much-needed diversity. She was named the most influential Hispanic entertainer in the United States in People en Español’s 2007 list of the “100 Most Influential Hispanics.” Her work as a singer and actor has continuously been recognized for promoting positive representations of Latinos by the American Latino Media Arts Awards (ALMA). Her work as producer and star of the film Bordertown, which brought attention to the ongoing murders of women in the border city of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, earned her an Artists for Amnesty International Award. Lopez’s achievements as a talented performer in the entertainment industry and as a successful businesswoman have made her a key figure for the Latino community.

Bibliography

Cottrell, Robert C. Icons of American Popular Culture: From P. T. Barnum to Jennifer Lopez. Armonk, N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe, 2009. Print.

Duncan, Patricia J. Jennifer Lopez: An Unauthorized Biography. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999. Print.

"Jennifer Lopez." IMDb, www.imdb.com/name/nm0000182/. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.

Lockhart, Tara. “Jennifer Lopez: The New Wave of Border Crossing.” In From Bananas to Buttocks: The Latina Body in Popular Film and Culture, edited by Myra Mendible. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2007. Print.

Roderick, Stephen. "Jennifer Lopez’s $20 Million Gamble: Why the Superstar Spent Her Own Money and Defied Skeptics to Tell Her Ben Affleck Love Story." Variety, 13 Feb. 2024, variety.com/2024/film/features/jennifer-lopez-this-is-me-now-musical-film-ben-affleck-love-story-1235908364/. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.

Tracy, Kathleen. Jennifer Lopez: A Biography. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2008. Print.

Vary, Adam B. "Jennifer Lopez Attached to Star in ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ Musical Film From ‘Dreamgirls’ Director Bill Condon (EXCLUSIVE)." Variety, 6 Dec. 2023, variety.com/2023/film/news/jennifer-lopez-kiss-of-the-spider-woman-musical-bill-condon-1235825197/. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.