Jennifer Lopez

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  • Date of birth: July 24, 1969
  • Hometown: New York City
  • Showbiz start: Fly Girl dancer in the ’90s comedy series “In Living Color”
  • Fashion mogul: Sweetface Fashion Co., which produces the successful J. Lo brand of clothing and accessories, was cofounded in 2001 by Lopez and Andy Hilfiger (Tommy’s brother)
  • Ex-loves: Sean Combs, Ben Affleck, first husband Ojani Noa, second husband Cris Judd
  • Other collaborations with Marc Anthony: A duet in the 2004 song “Escapemonos” (which they performed at the 2005 Grammy Awards), and the 1999 song “No Me Amos.”

Jennifer Lopez is an A-list entertainer, a fashion icon and a savvy businesswoman who has become one of the top earners in showbiz. But when it comes to making movies, let’s just say Lopez has been known for making lightweight flicks that tend to get less than stellar reviews.

But Lopez says those days of fluff films are behind her. She’s ready to make movies with more meaning. A lot of this change in Lopez has to do with her career-defining role in “El Cantante,” in which she plays Nilda Rosado Lavoe, also known as Puchi, the strong-willed wife of salsa singing legend Héctor Lavoe, played by her real-life husband, Marc Anthony.

Lopez gives a tour-de-force performance as Puchi, who stood by her man despite his hardcore drug addiction and his mental instability. It’s the kind of performance that has people buzzing that Lopez could be nominated for major awards — a far cry from the criticism she faced with such movies as “Monster-in-Law,” “Jersey Girl” or the infamous “Gigli.”

“I can probably take a lot more than I think,” says Lopez when asked what’s the most important thing she learned from playing Puchi. “She had really lived such a tumultuous life. She had to be a tough lady. She would go into these crack houses to pull [Héctor] out. She would go in with a gun.”

Lopez continues, “I think to be that type of person — to love somebody, to stay with them and struggle with them and not be perfect yourself — that’s what was so interesting about her character. It was so different from my own life. If she can deal with all that, surely I can deal with all the stuff I have to deal with.”

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And although she is blissfully happy with Anthony (husband number three), Lopez admits she did have moments when working with her husband was difficult, especially when the line was blurred between real life and acting. In the movie, Héctor and Puchi definitely have their raging fights. Recreating one of those arguments led to an unforgettable moment on the set for Lopez.

“While we were shooting one of the scenes when [Puchi] comes home and sees [Héctor’s] been getting high in the house, and their son is there, we argue. And I really started going after him. Now, obviously, a lot of stuff was improvised — they just set up two cameras and said, ‘You two just go at it.’ And I decided that I was literally going to go after Marc.”

She continues, “I did the first take and I didn’t really go after him. In the second take, I just start pushing him, and he’s not expecting it, and he’s like, ‘Let go! Let go of my arm right now!’ And then all of a sudden he’s like, ‘Jennifer!’ [with voice in an angry tone] He’s calling me Jennifer, and I’m calling him Héctor, and all of sudden the set just breaks up because it was so intense. And they’re like, ‘Do you guys get into fights like this at home?’ No, we don’t. But when we got [to the set], I was very clear: ‘When I’m on the set, I’m an actress, and you’re going to have to deal with a lot of stuff.’ Plus, we shot [the movie] in about 35 days, and we tried to fit in as many scenes as we could, so it was challenging.”

Although Lopez says she has no plans to do another movie with her husband, working with him must’ve been an enjoyable enough experience (fight scenes and all) that Lopez decided to team up with him for her very first tour, which begins September 21.

Clearly, not only does working with Anthony agree with Lopez, so does being the big boss on a movie project. Lopez is a producer of “El Cantante,” the first feature film through her company Nuyorican Productions, and she struggled for more than five years to bring it to the screen. And she’s about to make a repeat performance as producer and star in the upcoming “Bordertown.” Lopez plays a journalist investigating the murders of women who worked in factories near the border of Juarez, Mexico. The movie, which arrives in U.S. theaters August 31, is based on real-life events, since about 400 female factory workers have been murdered in Juarez since 1993.

“I found out what went down there through [“Bordertown” writer-director] Greg Nava. Like a lot of people, I didn’t know what was going on until somebody told me. It was important to shed some light on that situation,” says Lopez.

She said the issues behind the movie are what influenced her to be a financial backer of “Bordertown,” which costars Antonio Banderas. “I am drawn to things that are important and relevant to say, as opposed to just anything.”

And if that isn’t enough breaking out of her comfort zone, Lopez also released her first Spanish-language CD, “Como Ama una Mujer,” in March. Her next English-language album, titled "Brave," is set for an October 9 release.

“I love making English music and Spanish music. At the end of the day, I just want to make songs.”