Playboy Interview: Jennifer Lopez

Just as Jennifer Lopez is telling an interviewer about her much-talked-about romance with Sean "Puffy" Combs, her assistant interrupts to hand her a cell phone. "We were just talking about you," she tells her boyfriend. She listens a moment, then smiles broadly. "He wants to know if you're going to ask how he is in bed," she says, laughing, and returns to her conversation with him. When they're through, Lopez is, of course, asked how Puffy is in the sack. "He said to say he's da bomb," she says with a giggle.

In the media, Da Bomb and his relationship with the Puerto Rican bombshell have nearly overshadowed Lopez' remarkable rise from Fly Girl to It Girl. She began her ascent in an unlikely fashion, as a dancer in Keenen Ivory Wayans' comedy show In Living Color. Within five years, she had become the second most successful alumnus from that show (after Jim Carrey). Combs, the flashy-dressing rap impresario with the bad-boy image, ascended just as quickly in his world. Their paths crossed and they fell in love. While they initially denied romantic involvement, they finally fessed up late last year. Their honeymoon with the press was a short one, ending last December 27. That was when an evening of night clubbing concluded with the arrests of Combs and Lopez. There had been a shooting, allegedly by a member of Combs' entourage. Insisting she was an innocent bystander, Lopez nevertheless spent an unglamorous 14 hours being interrogated and handcuffed to a Manhattan precinct bench. In a case still playing out in the courts, Lopez and Combs were arrested along with his chauffeur and bodyguard after police chased their SUV through at least II red lights and then confiscated a loaded nine-millimeter pistol later determined to have been stolen. The chase reportedly came after an unidentified man threw a wad of cash at Combs, allegedly prompting a pal of Combs' named Jamal "Shyne" Barrow to fire several shots with a semiautomatic. Three people were injured. Both Combs and Lopez said they had no knowledge of the gun, and Lopez was exonerated. The nightclub incident followed another one in which Combs and cohorts allegedly assaulted a record exec after a dispute over the release of a video Combs had appeared in. Still, the incident drew a public outcry and raised eyebrows in Hollywood, with gossip columnists wondering why Lopez--whose work ethic and talent allowed her to shatter ethnic barriers and become the world's most famous Latina actor, singing star and sex symbol--would become involved with such a trouble-plagued beau.

The rise of 30-year-old Lopez has been a rapid one, though she has been laying the groundwork since she was four. Raised in the Bronx by her father David (a computer specialist) and mother Guadalupe (a school-teacher), Lopez grew up in a strict Catholic household, dreaming of a dancing and singing career. After dancing in a number of stage shows, Lopez got her first break when she was chosen (from a group of 2000) by choreographer Rosie Perez to join the Fly Girls dance troupe on In Living Color.

The TV exposure landed her a part in Janet Jackson's video That's the Way Love Goes, but once Lopez began making the rounds in Hollywood, her striking face, sultry voice and voluptuous proportions looked even more enticing to another medium. Lopez acted in two short-lived series, Second Chances and Hotel Malibu, and a TV film, Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7. Her big break came when Gregory Nava cast her for a pivotal role in Mi Familia, the 1995 film in which she played a young woman who survives deportation and near drowning to return to her husband and family. Lopez demonstrated an inner strength, charm and an effortless sexual appeal that would become her trademark.

Studios noticed, and film roles followed quickly. Lopez played the transit cop whose charms come between Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson in Money Train and Robin Williams' teacher in the Francis Ford Coppola-directed Jack. While both films were panned, Lopez' work stood out. Her portrayal of Jack Nicholson's Cuban mistress in Blood and Wine upped the ante.

Lopez' breakout role came when Nava tapped her to star in Selena, the Warner Bros, film about the slain tejano singer. Lopez, who became the first Latin actress to make more than $1 million for a film, made the most of the showcase. While Lopez lipsynched to Selena's vocals, her portrayal put her in contention for roles that weren't ethnicity specific.

A fun turn in the surprise hit Anaconda, in which she plays a documentary filmmaker who tries to avoid becoming a snake snack in the jungle, was followed by Oliver Stone's U Turn. Next she paired with George Clooney in Out of Sight. In the latter role she demonstrated her range and proved she could play a strong heroine and hold her own with a major male star. Lopez followed by lending her voice to the animated film Antz and became the face for L'Oréal, convincingly delivering the product's signature line: "I'm worth it."

While her reputation as an actor was booming, Lopez quietly began making preparations for a singing career. She recorded a demo tape that soon had several labels ready to sign her. She made a deal with Sony Music Entertainment chairman Tommy Mottola and the result was On the Six, a mix of ballads and dance tunes with a Latin flavor. Lopez co-wrote five songs, and the record was a hit. Fueled by her sexy performances in the accompanying videos, songs like Waiting for Tonight and If You Had My Love became chart toppers, the latter displacing Ricky Martin's Livin' La Vida Loca from the top of the charts. She is working on a follow-up to be released this Christmas and is planning her first concert tour.

She'll soon be seen starring in The Cell, a thriller in which she plays a scientist who gets transported into the mind of a serial killer in an attempt to locate a woman he imprisoned before he lapsed into a coma. That will be followed by The Wedding Planner, a romantic comedy in which Lopez plays a type-A career wedding planner who lacks a love life until she meets a doctor played by Matthew McConaughey, and then Angel Eyes, currently filming. Lopez is poised to emerge as the rare singing star and bankable movie star, an achievement that has eluded Madonna and is limited to the likes of Barbra Streisand, Cher and Bette Midler.

To get a handle on how Lopez is handling her success and recent controversy, Playboy called Daily Variety columnist Michael Fleming, who interviewed Kevin Spacey for our October 1999 issue. Here's Fleming's report: "We met in Lopez' suite at the Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto, where she had just begun work on Angel Eyes, a drama about a female cop (Lopez) drawn to a mysterious and troubled man (played by Jim Caviezel) who saved her life in a shootout. The shoot has been plagued by intermittent rain, and Lopez is forced to give up a day off to make up for lost time. We meet late in the afternoon. She's barefoot, dressed in jeans with a while cotton top that doesn't quite cover her famous taut midriff. With honey-colored hair and light makeup, she projects her charm effortlessly. She's everything you'd imagine a movie goddess to be.

"It's clear after just a few minutes with Lopez that her commitment is to her career. In fact, it was her career that caused the breakup of her marriage to Ojani Noa. In a phone conversation with Combs during the interview, they quickly reviewed each other's schedules for the coming two weeks. As Combs detailed his jet-setting plans to produce songs and videos and run his various businesses, she interrupted in that sultry tone of hers, 'You could come and visit me.' While that simple plea would be enough to make most men drop everything, it's clear from Combs' reply that he's as busy as she is.

"Lopez is obviously smitten with him. But wary of the media, she measures her words and their impact carefully. Her replies to questions about the events of December 27 are tempered by the legal restrictions of an ongoing case. Still, she is delightful and engaging, and tries her best to define where her relationship with Puff is going, even if she herself doesn't really know yet."

[Q] Playboy: Despite a string of new movies and recordings, the press you've gotten recently has focused not on your work but on your relationship with Puff Daddy. The tone of the coverage seems to be, "Why's this otherwise squeaky-clean actress and singer dating a guy who takes her to a place where guns are being fired?" How do you view it?

[A] Lopez: It's crazy. People want to blame him for everything, but if I didn't want to go out that night, I didn't have to go. It was my decision.

[Q] Playboy: But are you angry with Combs for putting you in that position?

[A] Lopez: Absolutely not. Every night things go on at clubs. I can't blame him for something that happened in that particular club on that particular night. In fact, I would never blame him for anything I chose to do. I do what I want.

[Q] Playboy: Is it true that you were handcuffed to a bench for 14 hours, crying, as the cops interrogated you?

[A] Lopez: Since the case is still pending, I'm not allowed to talk about a lot of this. But yes, I was handcuffed to a bench. I--I did cry. I was upset. I hadn't done anything and I wanted out of there.

[Q] Playboy: If you weren't famous--Jennifer Lopez arrested with Puff Daddy--would it have been handled the same?

[A] Lopez: Heck no. One cop told me that they'd normally let everyone go who wasn't directly involved. But they held us all night.

[Q] Playboy: In the aftermath, the press collectively decided you should break up with Combs. How did you feel about the reaction?

[A] Lopez: The bottom line for me is that I am exactly where I want to be. I'm not a pawn of anyone. If I had to describe myself, I would say I'm a hardworking, focused person who loves what she does. I'm passionate about what I do, passionate about my family and the people I love. It's irrelevant what the press says.

[Q] Playboy: Was the coverage by the tabloids the worst?

[A] Lopez: The New York tabloids had three or four pages at a time just on whether Puff and I should break up. It was blown out of proportion. I don't wish an experience like this on my worst enemy. I know I'm fortunate to be in this business and I shouldn't complain -- I'm not complaining. I love what I do. I try to take whatever difficult things come along with a grain of salt. Thank God I have this career and I'm not doing something I would be less happy doing. At the same time, this business can be unfair. Just because our names and faces are in magazines doesn't mean we're not people. We have feelings. Sometimes people forget that; we become two-dimensional.

[Q] Playboy: With few exceptions, prior to the shooting, you'd received mostly glowing press. How was it to have the tables turned?

[A] Lopez: It was scary. But you have to weather the storm. Because of the crazy publicity, I didn't even have time to deal with what happened that night, with being that close to gunfire. There was no time: We were taken to the station house. It was followed by grand juries and all kinds of crazy things. Throughout, I felt, why is this happening? We didn't do anything. We went out and someone else did something and yet we were caught in the middle of a storm. It was completely unfair. But when a celebrity is involved, people see an opportunity.

[Q] Playboy: Has it made it difficult to carry on your relationship?

[A] Lopez: It's difficult, but we're fine. All the stories ultimately are meaningless. The people who are writing them don't know me. They don't know him. They don't know my family. They don't know anybody. They said my parents didn't want me to be with Sean, but my parents would never talk to a reporter.

[Q] Playboy: There were indeed reports that your parents object to the relationship, particularly after the incident. Do they?

[A] Lopez: My parents were upset. How could they not have been? That morning my father turned on the TV and heard, "Sean Combs and Jennifer Lopez in nightclub shooting!" He thought I was dead. He didn't care who I was with or why I was there. He just wanted to know that I was OK.

[Q] Playboy: Did you call to assure them that you were all right?

[A] Lopez: I got to make a call at four o'clock in the morning from the police station. I didn't want to wake them up, so I called my manager and asked him to call my parents and tell them what happened and that I was all right. I knew they would be hearing about it in the press any second. He left messages for them before they even woke up. But they saw the news reports anyway and by the time I talked to them, they were a wreck.

[Q] Playboy: Did the incident prompt you to insulate yourself more from the public?

[A] Lopez: As guarded as I am when I have to be, I'm still very open. I'll go out by myself shopping or to a restaurant. I'll work out on my own. You never know who's following you or watching you, but it's like that for any woman and worse for somebody who is in the public eye. I view the shooting as an unfortunate incident and I try not to let it affect my life.

[Q] Playboy: Did the incident change your relationship?

[A] Lopez: Any extenuating circumstance like that is going to have an impact. It definitely tests your boundaries, but it also brings you closer. It does a lot of things to a relationship. All I can say is that we're OK. Right now we're OK.

[Q] Playboy: For a long time, the two of you denied you were dating. Why?

[A] Lopez: We were just friends for a long time. We'd done a video together and we'd hang out. He was always saying, "If you ever need anything, let me know." We hit it off, but as friends. Nothing more than that. People would be, "Oh, they're together!" But it wasn't like that for a long time. Then the dynamic changed.

[Q] Playboy: Was there a specific moment?

[A] Lopez: I always liked him as a person and I think he was always attracted to me. He always let me know that. But I just got to know him. I thought he was a sweet guy with a vulnerable side who really cared about me. I guess I just fell for him that way.

[Q] Playboy: You have things in common. You're both from New York and both became successful very quickly. Is that part of why you related to each other?

[A] Lopez: We respected and understood each other. We each understood where the other was coming from. But more important than the things that are similar are the differences, which balance us out. He loves to hang out, to go to parties and to be the center of attention. He's a really dynamic personality. People love being around him.

[Q] Playboy: And you?

[A] Lopez: I'd much rather go to work and come home at night. My life is quieter. That's me. We balance each other out. He gets me out and we enjoy ourselves. Sometimes I make him stay home. So the differences are complementary. We do have other things in common, like ambition, wanting to do different things with our work, having and realizing dreams. We both worked hard for what we got. We respect each other's business know-how.

[Q] Playboy: Who's the more ambitious of the two?

[A] Lopez: We're ambitious in different ways. He loves being a performer, but he's ambitious in business--his clothing business, record and publishing companies, his studio and restaurant. I'm ambitious when it comes to wanting to find that next good movie. I want to be the best actress, the best singer and the best dancer I can be. That's where my ambition lies, and I am relentless.

[Q] Playboy: At Combs' birthday party, he told the world that he hopes you'll marry him. Will you?

[A] Lopez: I don't know. You just never know how things are going to turn out. I've been married and I know how hard that is. I know what it takes for it to last. My experience also made me realize that you never know what's going to happen. If you had asked me when I was married, I would have said I'd be married forever to Ojani. I would have liked that. We divorced, but it wasn't for lack of love. But what you find out when you get married is that it's not only love that makes you stick together. It's circumstances, too.

[Q] Playboy: What led to your divorce?

[A] Lopez: I think wealth got in the way. The success.

[Q] Playboy: When you met Noa, he was a waiter and aspiring model, while you were just getting started as an actor. That all changed with Selena.

[A] Lopez: I think that kind of success can get in the way of a relationship. You can love somebody to death, but he's not willing to compromise and you're not willing to compromise on certain things. The world just gets in the way. Sometimes the timing is bad.

[Q] Playboy: Given your current schedule, do you think you could handle both a career and a marriage?

[A] Lopez: I'm not sure, but I'm better at dealing with it now than I have been in the past.

[Q] Playboy: But whether it's with Combs or someone else, do you see yourself getting married and having children?

[A] Lopez: Eventually. Those things are priorities. I want a family. I want to have kids. But I want it the right way.

[Q] Playboy: Would it be difficult to have children and continue to make movies?

[A] Lopez: It can be done. I think we could both have careers, but both people have to be totally committed to the family. That's the most important thing. Your career has to come second.

[Q] Playboy: Is that possible with two people as famous as you and Combs?

[A] Lopez: The things that were less attractive to me about Puff were his fame and all that. Those are the things I don't like. I'm drawn to a guy's strength, his strong presence. I like a strong guy with a soft heart. I'm not a looks person. Looks don't really matter to me. I'm very much a "you're beautiful to me" type of person. It doesn't matter what anybody else thinks. The outside stuff--looks, fame, success--isn't what attracts me.

[Q] Playboy: In each of your latest movies, The Cell, The Wedding Planner and Angel Eyes, you play a career-obsessed woman without much time for a personal life. While playing those women, did you ever consider how much you are like them?

[A] Lopez: I never thought about the fact that they had no life beyond work. But yeah, I relate to that. I work constantly. That's my life now: work, work, work. But I've been lucky in that I've always been in a relationship. In that way I'm different from the characters.

[Q] Playboy: How have you chosen your recent movies--from a thriller to a comedy to a drama?

[A] Lopez: I was reading scripts while doing my album. I picked the three with great characters. They're very different projects I had been tracking for a while. Actually, I read The Cell four or five years ago. It had a Silence of the Lambs feel. I knew it could be exciting with the right director. But at that time, I wasn't a bankable star. No one would take a chance on a movie like that with me.

[Q] Playboy: When did that change

[A] Lopez: Things changed after Out of Sight. I had a meeting with Mike De Luca, the head of New Line Cinema. I told him I liked The Cell and he said, "Let's hire a director and do it." I liked the script because I could relate to my character and her tremendous capacity for empathy. She feels things, which is why she was chosen for a creepy science project--she goes into people's minds. She's willing to sacrifice herself by going into the mind of a serial killer.

[Q] Playboy: Your prior foray into the horror genre was Anaconda, but it was much more an over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek movie about a giant snake's desire to eat you.

[A] Lopez:The Cell is definitely different from Anaconda, which was more fun. This is scarier.

[Q] Playboy: After a thriller like The Cell, what led you to your first comedy, The Wedding Planner?

[A] Lopez: I read it and thought it was charming. I'd always wanted to do a romantic comedy. Since I'd never done one, it was pretty scary territory. My character is a focused, driven woman who puts her life on the back burner. At first, you don't know why. Her career is going well, but she has no life except for Scrabble games with her father on weekends. I could relate to someone being very focused on her career. She's a total romantic but sees what marriages can be, because of her job as a wedding planner. She puts on these fabulous weddings for people and makes it a beautiful day, but that doesn't mean the marriage is going to work. She becomes cynical. Of course, she then meets somebody she doesn't expect to meet and her life is turned upside down.

[Q] Playboy: First you were supposed to play opposite Brendan Fraser, but he backed out at the last minute.

[A] Lopez: I believe that God has a plan for everything. Matthew McConaughey signed on and everything worked out perfectly. I think it was supposed to be Matthew all along. The chemistry between us was great. He's a charming Southern gentleman.

[Q] Playboy: Generally, are you now able to get the movie roles you want?

[A] Lopez: I read Gladiator and wanted the part of the sister so bad. I thought it was a really interesting role. Now everybody's saying it's a great movie and I'm like, I knew it. I've always wanted to do a costume epic--get dressed up and make believe you're from another time. I met Ridley [Scott] and he was great, but I could tell he didn't see me in the role. I didn't know what his vision was, and I don't know who they cast, but I could tell I wasn't it the minute I went in.

[Q] Playboy: Has being Puerto Rican ever affected your ability to land a role?

[A] Lopez: I've always wanted to be perceived as an actress who can do a lot of different things--I can change my look, my hair color, do whatever is required. From the beginning, I wanted to prove I could do anything. It's why I've never taken the same kind of role twice, though a lot of it has been luck. I've had some remarkable opportunities. I got the Coppola movie, Jack, with Robin Williams, and that part could have gone to anybody. For the part in Money Train, a lot of actresses of different ethnicities--from African American to me--tested.

[Q] Playboy: In Out of Sight, you played an Italian.

[A] Lopez: Steven Soderbergh and I talked about the character and he asked me what I wanted to do. I didn't think it should be race specific. It wasn't important to the story. I thought, Let's just not say anything. He cast Dennis Farina as my father, so I guess I was part Italian. We never said what my mother was.

[Q] Playboy: In that movie you participate in one of the sexiest love scenes we've seen in some time. It's unusual because of its lack of nudity. No clothes were torn off.

[A] Lopez: I found it very classy. I give a lot of the credit to Steven, who decided to do the scene at a table, the two of us sitting opposite each other, talking through the whole thing. It was so cool.

[Q] Playboy: Were you disappointed that the movie wasn't more successful?

[A] Lopez: I wish more people would have seen it. After Anaconda, Selena and Out of Sight, Puff said, "You are big on cable and video, baby, big!" Still, Out of Sight was important for me. It put me past that ingenue status. People could see me opposite a big male star in an equally powerful role.

[Q] Playboy: But Selena was your first star turn. How did that movie change your life?

[A] Lopez: After Selena, I realized, Oh, my God! This is happening to me. I can't walk down the street anymore. People know my name. They know who I'm dating. I had a lot of anxiety about it. Finally I was able to say, I'm the same person I was yesterday. I'm the same little girl I was in the Bronx. I'm just doing good--getting breaks, getting lucky. I thought, This is what I wanted, so I have to learn to deal with it. But it's weird. You have to be emotionally prepared to handle the changes. My manager at the time was also managing Jim Carrey, and Jim had just exploded. I asked, "Did Jim go through this?" His manager said, "Of course. Everybody goes through it." It made me feel better knowing that I wasn't alone. It was good to know the scary feelings were normal.

[Q] Playboy: What was the toughest part of sudden fame?

[A] Lopez: Realizing that people think they know you when they don't. People latch on to one thing and think they know you. They have said, "She's really ambitious," as if it's a character flaw [laughs]. I'm like, Wait a minute, I thought that was one of my best qualities! So you quickly realize that people want things to be negative. The press isn't about to say, "She works hard. She is really focused." That was the hardest thing to adjust to.

[Q] Playboy: Early in your career, you gave a famous interview in Movieline in which you trashed Gwyneth Paltrow, Madonna and Winona Ryder. You also said that Wesley Snipes resented you because you didn't succumb to his passes. What actually happened?

[A] Lopez: That was another really big lesson for me. When I look back, I realize I needed that lesson. I learned that you have to be careful how you state things, particularly for a print interview. It's different from TV, because the audience doesn't see you speaking. They don't see the context. But in black and white, it can be misinterpreted. It just made me more careful. It was a learning experience, a real hard knock over the head. In the end, the thing that bothered me was that somebody might have been hurt by what I said. Also, it gave people a false picture of me. I'm not a catty person. I've never been that way. Finally, I realized, over time, people will get to know me and that perception will go away. Thank God it has. Now when I do interviews, I say exactly what I mean. I don't leave anything open to interpretation.

[Q] Playboy: Did you call all of the actors to apologize?

[A] Lopez: I tried to. You do the best you can. Then the press blew it out of proportion. But I did the best I could to let people know. All I could say, wherever I could say it, was, sorry, it wasn't what I meant to say and it was taken the wrong way.

[Q] Playboy: You've been on the receiving end of some catty commentary directed specifically at your physical proportions. Does it bother you?

[A] Lopez: A big deal was always made about my physical appearance, even when I was young. It's because I was shaped a certain way. It was never anything negative, though. It was a joke. It was laughed about. You know, my mom or whoever would say, "Jennifer is--" and slap me on the butt or something. It was always loving and endearing. They never made me feel uncomfortable about it. Anyway, all the women I grew up with are exactly the same shape I am. So to me it was a beautiful thing.

[Q] Playboy: But is it tough in Hollywood, where anorexia and breast implants are de rigueur?

[A] Lopez: Yeah, there is this idea that thinner is better. Well, you don't want to be fat, but I'm comfortable the way I am. I'm not fat by any means. I'm healthy. I work out. I watch what I eat, like any woman does. You don't want to look unattractive in a bathing suit. But I don't believe skinnier is more beautiful than having some meat on your bones. Last year, a big magazine in Europe had women vote on who they thought was the sexiest woman. They chose me. I thought it was incredible. They could have chosen anybody. But they chose somebody with my body type. I think women feel heartened: "She's confident about the way she is. Why can't we be?"

[Q] Playboy: Was your self-confidence tested when Chris Rock, hosting the MTV Video Music Awards, announced on national television that you had arrived in two limousines, one for you and one for your ass?

[A] Lopez: Comments like that can be funny, though sometimes they're overboard. At every single awards show for the past year everyone has made the same joke. It's tired, you know? Get some new material. It does sometimes go over the line; it can be a little disrespectful.

[Q] Playboy: Did you say anything to Rock?

[A] Lopez: Chris sent flowers to me and said something like, "I love that type of body" or whatever. So why don't you say something nice? If you love it, then voice that. Don't say something negative.

[Q] Playboy: In Rock's Playboy Interview, this topic came up--

[A] Lopez: He talked about me?

[Q] Playboy: He talked about how much he liked women with--

[A] Lopez: A full figure?

[Q] Playboy: Rock was a bit more direct than that. [Hands her the interview]

[A] Lopez: [She reads] "What do you love physically about black women? Probably the black ass. I hate women who hide the big ass. Don't hide the big ass. It's for all of us. Share this gift. Share your big ass with all of us." [She stops, looks up] He's sick! [Reading again] "We don't have to touch it or anything, but don't hide the big ass. Let us see it. Let us worship it. Let us pay it compliments. Let us tip our hats to the big ass. Love the big ass. And I'm not alone. Brothers love ass. There was an episode of Real Sex on HBO. They went from a black strip club to a white strip club. It was so funny. The white strip club was all about tits. The black strip club, ass. It was all about ass." [Shudders] In truth, I could have done without his comment. I consider myself a normal person. I think it works better for my acting. You want to be real.

[Q] Playboy: Do you turn your sexiness on and off? Are you even aware of how you project it?

[A] Lopez: I think sexiness is comfortableness with yourself. If you think about who it is guys look at on the street, it's the girls with confidence. A girl might be walking around in a thong, and she might have cellulite. It doesn't matter. She's walking with real confidence. Guys just love her because she's comfortable with her body. Then you look at the girl who is thin but feels a little weird and doesn't know if she looks fat or not. She's pulling on her suit. Not sexy. Whether you've got a little meat on you or you're heavy or skinny, be comfortable with it. It's so funny that people try to change themselves into one thing. They get plastic surgery. They do all kinds of things to their bodies to look the same as everyone else. But the beauty is in diversity, so revel in the way you're different. I made up my mind early about that. I never felt weird about going to Hollywood knowing I didn't have the same body type as other people. My body made me different. It made people turn their heads.

[Q] Playboy: You obviously felt comfortable in your body when you chose the awesome, revealing dress you wore at this year's Grammy Awards. Were you surprised by the incredible reaction?

[A] Lopez: Totally. I thought it was great. I was totally flattered. Classy, sexy, feminine--those are the things I look for in clothes. I don't like anything that looks cheap. I don't go for overtly sexual things. I like things that leave something to the imagination--provocative but classy. I can wear the dress from Versace, or a Calvin Klein boatneck with no sleeves, or the Audrey Hepburn-type dress with a pair of low pumps and feel just as comfortable.

[Q] Playboy: So how did you end up in that slashed-down-the-middle dress?

[A] Lopez: I was working, so my stylist collected stuff for me to look at. She knows what I like. We try on different things and we take Polaroids to see how they photograph, since it's for TV and there will be paparazzi. Then I have to decide what I feel best in. I loved that dress. I'd seen it on Donatella Versace, who wore it to the Met one night. Two days before (continued on page 152)Jennifer Lopez(continued from page 66) the Grammys, it came my way. I thought I shouldn't wear it because others had. I thought the press might put out photos of all the people next to one another in the same dress. But I decided to do what I wanted. I loved it. I didn't have anything I loved better at the time.

The first time I tried it on, I felt the impact when I walked out of the bathroom. My makeup artist, my manager, and Puff--everybody--were looking at me like, Wow. Puff was like, "That's the one! Don't even worry about it. That's a knockout dress, a killer dress and I want you to go with that." The reaction shows that you can't ever plan how people will react. If you were to try to plan it--"Let's get that dress with the plunging neckline and it will be a sensation"--people wouldn't even notice. But when I walked onstage, I had to hold the dress up so I wouldn't trip on it. I was standing there, waiting for the words to come up on the Teleprompter. Everybody was really quiet. I was wondering what was wrong. Afterward, I was told that they were panning for people's reactions. All of a sudden, it was like a thunder roll, all the way to the front. People were like, "Ahh!" They were screaming and yelling. David Duchovny said, "For once, I'm sure nobody is looking at me."

[Q] Playboy: That dress provided the most revealing look at you yet. You haven't done a nude scene in a movie. Would you ever?

[A] Lopez: I don't think you need to see my breasts to understand my character. I think you can do love scenes that show skin, legs, whatever. But nudity isn't for me. I don't condemn anybody else for doing it, but I'd feel weird. I made a promise to myself at one point not to do anything I don't feel good about afterward. It's not worth it. I wouldn't feel good afterward, so I won't do it.

[Q] Playboy: Does that modesty come from your parents? Were you brought up religious?

[A] Lopez: We were Catholic, and I went through 12 years of Catholic school. So, sure. We went to church on Sundays and all that kind of stuff.

[Q] Playboy: Are you still religious?

[A] Lopez: I still have a strong belief in God. I won't say I go to church all the time, though sometimes I think I should. I think I will go back to it one day. I've been grounded in that. I pray often.

[Q] Playboy: Your father was a computer specialist, your mother a school-teacher. How did they react when you told them you weren't going to college, that you wanted to be in show business?

[A] Lopez: You need to prove things to people. It was that way with my family. The more I showed them, the more they believed. They were never discouraging, but they were never "Go, go, go." Still, they were there, ready to catch me if I fell. But I always knew. I knew from the time I was four or five years old that I wanted to sing, wanted to dance. I knew I wanted to act.

[Q] Playboy: You'd danced in New York, but your big break came in LA when you became a Fly Girl on In Living Color. How did you get the job?

[A] Lopez: The show was in its first season, it was a hit and they needed another girl. So there were huge auditions in New York and in LA. I tried out and got it.

[Q] Playboy: Did you have a sense that cast members like Damon Wayans and Jim Carrey would become stars?

[A] Lopez: Damon was amazing, but you never know with those things and I wasn't looking at anyone like, Oh, he's going to be a huge star. I was just dancing. Everybody on the show was talented. But the dancers rehearsed separately. They did their thing and we used to film in the morning. We didn't interact with them much. It was fun, though. There was a lot of fresh new energy. But it was a really weird time for me. I had lived in New York my whole life. I was living in LA by myself.

[Q] Playboy: When we watch reruns of the show and see you dance, it's remarkable how much your looks and body have changed. What happened?

[A] Lopez: I had some baby fat on me. My manager and I were looking at pictures and it's like, you know, I've become a woman. I was 22 then, and I was unhappy. I had moved away from home. I was lonely. A year later I was in love. The pounds dropped off like nothing. I became focused and I worked out and ate salads and did all kinds of things to change my life.

[Q] Playboy: When you did Selena, you lip-synched. But you got your chance to sing for yourself with On the Six, your debut album. When a lot of movie stars make record deals, people roll their eyes. How long did it take for the music industry to see you were serious and had some ability?

[A] Lopez: I'd done a demo, which a couple record companies had heard. When I went to see Tommy Mottola, people in his organization already wanted to sign me. He asked what I wanted to do. I said, "I want a deal. I want to make a great album." He said OK.

[Q] Playboy: Your album came during a wave of success for Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias and Marc Anthony and the resurgence of Carlos Santana. Latin American music is now a hot seller. What's behind the trend?

[A] Lopez: Our influence hit big in 1999. With any other ethnic group, people want to think of it as a fad, which is a shame. Latin music has always been around. We're coming into our own and it will only continue to get bigger in the States.

[Q] Playboy: Among your movies, do you have a favorite?

[A] Lopez:Selena was always my favorite because I got to sing and dance as well as act. I felt passionate about her and her tragic, beautiful story. The other one is the movie I just did, The Wedding Planner. It was such a pleasant experience. We all just clicked.

[Q] Playboy: How was it working with Oliver Stone on U Turn?

[A] Lopez: He was cool. I'd met him for Noriega, and while I was reading, he was rearranging the furniture. I was furious. When I left, I said I'd never again audition for that man. I had that kind of attitude, even though I was nobody, working on a television show. A few years later, though, he called me for this. I told my manager, "Didn't I tell you I didn't want to audition with him?" He said, "He just wants to meet you." I'm sure they thought I was crazy. Finally, I said, "He is Oliver Stone, so OK. I'll give him a second chance." Because of what had happened, I probably had a little attitude. He liked that. He said, "You remind me of those Puerto Rican girls who used to beat me up on the bus. They were mean." I said, "I'm not going to be mean to you." Oliver's great at what he does. It was a strange tale of this little quirky town and this guy passing through--like he'd entered hell. Nick Nolte was amazing. He and Sean Penn are the two most incredible actors I've ever seen working.

[Q] Playboy: How was it working with your Out of Sight co-star George Clooney?

[A] Lopez: He's a cool guy, a real joker. He's charming, really down with the crew. He plays basketball during lunch--that's pretty much George.

[Q] Playboy: You always hear of people falling in love on movie sets. Has that ever happened?

[A] Lopez: Not to me, because I've usually been in a relationship when I've done movies. And I'm not a cheater. When I'm with somebody, that's it. But I understand how it happens. You're with each other all the time. So if you want to be together, you can.

[Q] Playboy: Three years ago, with Selena, you became the first Latina actor to make $1 million for a movie. Now you're in the $7.5 million range. How does that change things?

[A] Lopez: It's destructive to think about it, so I don't. This business is too fickle. You could destroy yourself thinking about the money. I just focus on understanding my character and telling the story. I focus on making good music. I have managers and agents who worry about money. I tell them they should alert me when there's a really big problem [laughs].

[Q] Playboy: Do you worry that the entertainment business is more fickle toward women? Demi Moore got $12.5 million for Striptease, which flopped, and her career never recovered. Then there's Kevin Costner, who hasn't had a hit in years but still earns $20 million a picture. Is this fair?

[A] Lopez: Male stars do get a number of Get Out of Jail Free cards, but I think women can, too. Julia Roberts cracked through. She has proved that she's just as bankable as any male star. This is a business. If a studio feels it's going to make a certain amount of money with you there, it'll give you that extra money to be there. So though men still are usually paid more than women, it's evening out.

[Q] Playboy: In your own acting you've covered both drama and comedy. Who are your role models? Who do you admire?

[A] Lopez: Meg Ryan. She has both a vulnerable quality and a strength to her. I love Jodie Foster. I look up to people like Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Bette Midler and Cher, who've been able to meld singing and acting careers. They are thought of as performers, whether they're acting, singing or dancing.

[Q] Playboy: Does it bother you that women are often cast to play the girlfriend of the leading man?

[A] Lopez: I guess I've been lucky. I could have wound up getting the girlfriend parts and I would have taken them all at the beginning. But I didn't get them. I had a different quality, I suppose. I was kind of a chameleon. Nobody knew who I was. All I can hope to do now is make good choices. The best careers are maintained by being selective. Eddie Olmos gave me some good advice when I was starting out in Mi Familia: "If you don't feel it 100 percent, don't do it. It doesn't matter how much they want to pay you, it doesn't matter who else is in it, and it doesn't matter who's directing. If you don't feel it, don't do it, because it will show." You can't fake it. It's like you see a painter on his best day and he's painted the freaking Mona Lisa. Another day, he's painted garbage. The same painter. Whether it was Selena or The Wedding Planner, I felt grounded in the characters. I understood them. I think that leads to a career that can last. If you keep that up, nobody can ever say, "All of her movies sucked." They'll at least have to amend that to, "The movies sucked, though she was really good in them" [laughs]. There are so many variables and the only control that you can have is what you choose. I hope I'll never do a movie for the wrong reason--for the money. Maybe in a year or two I'll feel differently--hope I don't. I hope I never hear, "We really need a big hit. Let's do a big, fat action movie." "Hey, they want you to play Wonder Woman!"

[Q] Playboy: So you wouldn't play Wonder Woman?

[A] Lopez: Don't think my managers and I don't talk about things like that. But at the end of the day, I really like what I'm doing now.