Dancer-singer-actress
in 2008 to parade them on a magazine cover, it’s ironically the most
successful thing she’s done in years. Before her hiatus, she had a
string of flop movies, a single that didn’t crack the Billboard Top 10,
and an American Music Award downshift from favorite pop/rock female
artist in 2003 to the more niche favorite Latin artist in 2007. Oh, and
her record label just dropped her.
Now the 40-year-old star is calibrating a comeback
that has included guest appearances on “How I Met Your Mother,”
“Saturday Night Live” and reportedly an upcoming episode of “Glee,” all
to support her romantic comedy “The Back-Up Plan,” opening Friday.
And in the meantime, with businesses encompassing
everything from music to movies to a clothing line to a Cuban
restaurant, she’s the ninth-richest woman in entertainment, says Forbes
magazine, which in 2007 estimated her net worth at
So, shed no tears for her career.
Dancer-singer-actress or waitress-writer-dog walker, we all have our
highs and lows. Here are hers:
—Fledgling 1986-1993
After her film debut as a teen in the 1986 indie
drama “My Little Girl,” she went on to gain a toehold as a professional
dancer. Joining the Fly Girls troupe on the sketch-comedy series “In
Living Color” in 1991, she left after two seasons to dance in
“Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7.” At this point, she’s just
another fresh face — but clearly a performer driven to succeed in more
than one field.
—Up-and-Comer 1993-95
Lopez quickly got cast in the short-lived
After three episodes of the Fox drama “South Central,” she gained
attention and an Independent Spirit Award nomination in 1995 for her
role in
her first big studio film, the Woody Harrelson-Wesley Snipes actioner
“Money Train,” flopped — but showcased her as the next hot young
ingenue.
—Big Break 1996-1997
Next-hot-young ingenues get opportunities. Following
biopic of the murdered Tejano singer, did modest box office but made
Lopez a star. The horror hit “Anaconda,” starring Lopez’s tight, sweaty
T-shirt, swiftly brought more attention. Not even the flop “U Turn,”
her third film that year, could tamp down her rise.
—Big Time 1998-2001
Lopez scored great reviews for her out-of-the-box performance as a federal marshal in
She scored a No. 1 single, “If You Had My Love,” in 1999, and her debut
album, “On the 6,” went all the way to No. 8. Now she was riding high
as a movie star, with the successful “The Cell” (2000) and “The Wedding
Planner” (2001), plus a No. 1 album (2001’s “J.Lo”) that spawned two
chart-topping singles (“I’
—Cruising Along 2001-03
Two movies tanked in a row (2001’s “Angel Eyes,” 2002’s “Enough”), though “Maid in
proved a hit. And her album “J to Tha L-O!: The Remixes” made it to No.
1. But her next, “This Is Me … Then,” peaked at No. 2. Her signature
single, “
late 2002. Her next, “All I Have,” featuring LL Cool J, did hit the top
a couple of months later. It was her last single to even come close.
—
Following media saturation of “Bennifer” — Jennifer and fiance
becoming the first movie to sweep all six major categories of the
Razzie Awards. She got mostly cut out of
but flopped here. “Monster-in-Law” was a modest hit, but as University
at Buffalo American Studies professor Elayne Rapping, author of several
books on popular culture, notes, “That was a
The prestige drama “An Unfinished Life” (2005) sank big time, as did “El Cantante” (2007), the biopic of salsa pioneer
—Comeback? 2009-10
Hard to say. Falling during a dance routine at the
American Music Awards in November didn’t help. Neither did that
much-derided catsuit she wore on “
Rockin’ Eve.” Plus, Epic Records dropped her in February, putting her
album “Love?” in limbo. And as for romantic comedies, Rapping wonders
about that choice. “She’s incredibly sexy, and her sexuality has always
been a big part of her identity,” Rapping says. “That’s not typical of
women in romantic comedies, who tend more to be cute.” Yet, after “The
Back-Up Plan,” Lopez has another romantic comedy, “The Governess,” in
the works.
Still, you never know. Jenny’s been around the
block, and she’s confounded expectations before. We may just find
ourselves high on J.Lo all over again.
———
J.LO HAS A NEW LEADING MAN AND A ‘PLAN’
For her comeback vehicle,
The romantic-obstacle twist? Lopez’s character,
single and desperate for a baby, meets the possible man of her dreams
immediately upon leaving a fertility clinic. You’ve heard the term
complicated pregnancy? This is wacky-complicated pregnancy.
“It’s not like comedies are something I’ve done a lot of,” says O’Loughlin, 33, who starred in
in drama, and though I understand comedy, I did find it challenging at
times,” he says of the new film. “The thing with comedy, you’ve just
got to play it straight; that’s what makes it funny. And the bigger it
is, the straighter you play it and the funnier it is.”
He and Lopez, who he met at her home during the
casting process, “got on very well straight away. She’s a great gal,
very grounded and professional, so off we went.”
And smoothly, as director
because she was going back to work and doing something she loved after
having taken time off to have the twins. If anything, it made things
easier.”
And judging from Lopez’s savvy, we’re sure whatever happens, she has a back-up plan.
———
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