We have officially run out of puns for Jennifer Lopez’s nickname.
By Fred Topel
Movie:El
Cantante Directed By:Leon
Ichaso Starring:Jennifer
Lopez, Marc Anthony, John Ortiz, Manny Perez Studio:Picturehouse
Entertainment Jenny from the Block must have no fear. The last time she
costarred with a lover in a movie, it did not go so well – but now she’s
got a new man and a new movie. El Cantante stars Marc Anthony as salsa
singer Hector Lavoe, and Lopez is his wife, Puchi. Fame takes the Lavoes to some
dark places with drugs and partying, but Lopez couldn’t seem happier, with
her golden cheeks outshining all her bling bling. Those other downers must have
been Ben Affleck’s fault.
The Wave: Was it fun to get paid to scream at your husband?
Jennifer Lopez: It was fun. Obviously, [the Lavoes] were very intense.
Really, you can’t fake things like that. You have to really go there emotionally,
but at the same time, when we were done, I think there was a sense of satisfaction
that we were telling the story or that the scene was real and that we had captured
something real and gritty on screen. That’s what we wanted to do. We wanted
to make these people human. We wanted the joyous things to be joyous and the funny
things to be funny. It was the same thing with the screaming, kind of fighting
ways they would go at each other. TW: Was it hard to leave that on set?
JL: No, not at all. Not for us. I think it was more like an adrenaline
rush afterwards. We’d be going home and driving home to Long Island in a
car and he was like, “Yo, that was great, right? That part when I pushed
you, you weren’t expecting that, right?” “No, I wasn’t.”
TW: Did you have any reservations about making another movie
as a real life couple?
JL: Well, we weren’t a couple at the time. I got this script like
five and a half years ago, you have to remember. Marc and I have only been together
three and a half years. At that time, I just called him. I knew that he was the
person to play Hector Lavoe. He’s a Puerto Rican salsa singer and they even
looked a little bit alike. I knew he knew this world, so I called him right away,
I think maybe a month after I got the script. He was like, “Oh, he’s
my idol, I’ll do it.” I said, “I don’t know if I’m
going to even be in it, but do you want to do it?” And he said yes.
TW: Which is your favorite decade for hair?
JL: Not the ’80s, I’ll tell you that much. Probably the ’60s.
Even if you see me now on the red carpet, I’ll go with like a ’60s
bouffant. I like that kind of very goddessy type thing.
TW: The Lavoes succumb badly to fame. Could you relate to any
of those problems?
JL: For me, my fame experience was a whole different thing than what
they went through. I think I still had the same kind of thing that hits you like
“Oh my God, what is this?” That makes you shake and shiver a little
bit and get anxious and makes you want to escape, which I do understand. Like
escape your own skin, because it’s such a weird experience, you could never
really explain it to anybody.
TW: Does it still hit you like that?
JL: Well, no. It did when I first became famous. When you first are out
there, you realize you have no anonymity and you realize that people are looking
at everything you do and they’re judging you and they’re talking about
you. It’s one thing to be in high school and have that happen and you want
to kill yourself. It’s another thing on this global level for people to
be scrutinizing you in that way. But I’ve never had to live the drug part
of it – which I feel very lucky about. I’ve never been in that scene.
TW: Are you more open about being a couple with Marc now?
JL: Absolutely. I think we knew that it was very important for me, and
Marc kind of helped me with this in the beginning, that I didn’t know there
was another way to live. He being in the public eye, working since he’s
11 years old and singing since he was a baby, he was like, “You can be an
artist, have your credibility, sell your records, do your things, have your success,
and still have a life. You’re allowed that. You don’t have to give
everything all the time.” I think he helped me understand that a little
bit, so it was a real conscious decision for us to kind of go, “Wait a minute.
Yes, we are singers and actors and we do want to give you all this and share all
this, but at the same time, we do have a life that is private and sacred and ours.”
I think we just felt like we needed to establish that for ourselves. This is very
sacred to us and we’re going to take care of it. That’s what we did.
I think as people see that, then they’re a little bit more respectful down
the line. That’s why it’s a little bit easier now for us to go, “Okay,
here’s this project we did together” or “Here we are standing
together on this red carpet.” And they don’t cross the line. They
don’t follow us to the house and camp out there, but that took time, too.
We had to let them know that if you’re going to stand outside our house,
you’re not going to make any money. You’re not going to get the picture.
TW: Can you teach that to some other girls in the tabloids these
days?
JL: You have to learn that. Five, six, seven years ago, it was different
for me. I needed to get to the point where you have those realizations and you
understand that it’s your responsibility and it’s within your power
to do that.
TW: Are you and Marc competing on iTunes?
JL: I know that his record is No. 1 right now, which is our record, which
is this movie – which is great. *This Article appeared in Volume 7, Issue 08 of The Wave Magazine.
