Jennifer Lynn Affleck (née Lopez; born July 24, 1969 in the Bronx, New York City), aka J. Lo, is an American singer, actress, dancer, producer, designer, and TV show judge.
Born in the Bronx to Puerto Rican parents, her career started as one of the dancers in In Living Color! before she landed a star-making role in the biopic about the singer Selena. More acting roles followed as did a career in music. In 2001, she became the first performer with a #1 movie (The Wedding Planner) and #1 album (J.Lo, from her famous nickname) in the same week.
Her relationship with Sean "P. Diddy" Combs fell apart, in the wake of Combs being accused of gun possession, shooting, and injuring people at a nightclub (a charge he was ultimately acquitted of). She moved onto a high profile relationship with Ben Affleck, spawning the nickname "Bennifer" and producing the critical and commercial flop Gigli. Her music career stalled after the release of the single "Jenny from the Block", which (although a huge hit) was supposed to address accusations that she was a money-grubbing sell-out, but only made things worse with its video, which was the exact opposite of what the song was trying to say. The romance between Lopez and Affleck ended in 2004; afterwards Lopez spent a decade married to musician Marc Anthony and having two children by him before divorcing in 2014. Lopez and Affleck eventually rekindled their romance, leading to their marriage in 2022.
She's done some advocacy work in various ways, including vaccination awareness for some diseases, and for awareness of violence against women. Interestingly enough, before she became famous, she was simply a paralegal and Notary Public working to an attorney.
Lopez still acts and records music, and as of the 2011 season, appeared as a judge on American Idol. Her most famous physical... asset is her large, curvy rear, which has sparked a few talk show punchlines. Ironically, diet and fitness had already whittled her posterior to average size by 1999, which probably says more about Hollywood's standards than J. Lo's bum. In 2020, she co-headlined the Super Bowl LIV halftime show with fellow Latina performer Shakira.
Filmography:
- My Family (1995) as Young Maria
- Jack (1996) as Miss Marquez
- Blood and Wine (1996) as Gabriella
- Anaconda (1997) as Terry Flores
- Selena (1997) as Selena Quintanilla-Pérez
- U Turn (1997) as Grace McKenna
- Out of Sight (1998) as Karen Sisco
- Antz (1998) as Azteca (voice)
- The Cell (2000) as Catherine Deane
- Angel Eyes (2001) as Sharon Pogue
- The Wedding Planner (2001) as Mary Fiore
- Enough (2002) as Slim Hiller
- Maid in Manhattan (2002) as Marisa Ventura
- Gigli (2003) as Ricki
- Shall We Dance (2004) as Paulina
- Jersey Girl (2004) as Gertrude Steiney
- Shall We Dance (2004) as Paulina
- Monster-in-Law (2005) as Charlotte Cantilini
- An Unfinished Life (2005) note as Jean Gilkyson
- The Back-up Plan (2010) as Zoe
- What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012) as Holly
- Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) as Shira (voice)
- Parker (2013) as Leslie Rodgers
- The Boy Next Door (2015) as Claire Peterson (also producer)
- Home (2015) as Lucy Tucci (voice)
- Ice Age: Collision Course (2016) as Shira (voice)
- Second Act (2018) as Maya (also producer)
- Hustlers (2019) as Ramona Vega (also producer)
- Marry Me (2022) as Kat Valdez (also producer)
- Shotgun Wedding (2023) as Darcy (also producer)
- The Mother (2023) as The Mother (also producer)
- Atlas (2024) as Atlas Shepherd (also producer)
- In Living Color! (1991-93) as Fly Girl
- How I Met Your Mother (1 episode, 2010) as Anita Appleby
- The Fosters (2013–18; executive producer only)
- Shades of Blue (2016–19) as Harlee Santos (also executive producer)
Tropes in her career:
- Actor Allusion:
- In The Wedding Planner Maria compliments a bride on her thighs - a reference to the media's focus on Jennifer's thighs when she began her singing career.
- She's played a police officer in Out of Sight and Angel Eyes.
- Actor-Inspired Element: Jennifer insisted on Jim Caviezel playing the male lead in Angel Eyes – as she had been impressed with his performance in The Thin Red Line.
- Actor-Shared Background: In Maid in Manhattan Marissa is a working class Bronx girl who suddenly becomes a tabloid sensation. This parallels Jennifer's own roots and meteoric rise to fame.
- Career Resurrection: Hustlers brought the spotlight back on her, with critics calling it her best work in years and the public clamoring for an Oscar nomination.
- Casting Gag: Her being cast in Home; the movie was based on a book called The True Meaning of Smekday, and in that book, the main alien character was named J.Lo, after her. Her being cast caused him to get an Adaptational Name Change (Oh).
- Contractual Purity: She caught flack for adopting a Hotter and Sexier image in the 2000s because her music was popular with young girls. She also made a point that the horror movie The Cell was not meant for her young fans to watch.
- Dawson Casting: Due to Jennifer being Older Than They Look, she's implied to be playing Ramona in Hustlers much younger than her actual age.
- Deleted Role: She had most of her scenes cut down from Jersey Girl because Kevin Smith was hoping to avoid catching the same backlash as Gigli.
- Dye Hard: Usually seen with brown hair, she's been known to go black (Maid in Manhattan) or blonde (Angel Eyes).
- Fake Nationality: Although of Puerto Rican descent, she has played Mexican characters in My Family and Selena.
- Gender-Blender Name: Played characters named Slim (Enough), Charlie (Monster-In-Law), and Ricki (Gigli).
- Leslie Nielsen Syndrome: In the 90s she became famous for dramatic roles - Selena, Anaconda, Enough. In the 2000s she was better known for romantic comedies - such as Maid in Manhattan, The Wedding Planner, Monster-in-Law. She's more likely to appear in comedy than drama.
- Money, Dear Boy: She asked for an $8 million salary for Angel Eyes and was initially turned down - but they relented.
- Non-Singing Voice: Although a gifted singer, she was dubbed by the real Selena in the titular film. This is because the film was made so close to the real Selena's death, the filmmakers decided the public would prefer to hear her actual voice.
- Real-Life Relative: Her then-husband Mark Anthony starred with her in the film El Cantante.
- Romance on the Set: Famously on Gigli with Ben Affleck - which caused Executive Meddling to include a romance to capitalise on the publicity behind it.
- Star-Derailing Role: Contrary to popular belief, Gigli did not dent her star power - as she followed it up with the successes Shall We Dance? and Monster-in-Lawnote . It was An Unfinished Life - a Box Office Bomb that was poorly received by critics - that marked things changing for her. Not helping matters was her next film Bordertown only coming out in theaters overseas.
- Star-Making Role: Selena put her on the map as an actress.
- Urban Legend: Is the subject of one about her supposed "diva" qualities. The legend is depicted in the form of a letter from Jennifer's agent. The agent: Lucille LeSueur.
- Word of God: She says of the rumor that she has her ass insured - "who would do that?"note
- What Could Have Been:
- Salma Hayek was the first choice for Selena but turned down the audition, saying it was too soon after the death of the real Selena.
- Hilary Swank was the original choice for Maid in Manhattan, back when it was a John Hughes-directed project called The Chambermaid. Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts had both passed on the lead.
- Gillian Anderson and Julianna Margulies both had to turn down Jennifer's part in Anaconda – who was originally named Terri Porter, but renamed Flores.
