Jennifer Lopez

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Birthday:

24 July 1969, The Bronx, New York, USA

Birth Name:

Jennifer Lynn Lopez

Height:

168 cm

Jennifer Lynn Lopez was born in the Castle Hill section of the South Bronx on July 24, 1969. She is the middle of three musically-inclined sisters, Leslie Lopez, a homemaker, and Lynda Lopez, a DJ on New York's WKTU, a VH1 VJ, and a morning news show correspondent on New York's Channel 11. Jennifer always dreamed of being a multi-tasking superstar. Jennifer's parents, Guadalupe Rodriguez and David Lopez, were both born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, the second largest Puerto Rican city. The two were then brought to the continental United States during their childhoods and, eventually, met while living in New York City.As a child, Jennifer enjoyed a variety of musical genres, mainly Afro-Caribbean rhythms like salsa, merengue and bachata, and mainstream music like pop, hip-hop and R&B. Although she loved music, the film industry also intrigued her. Her biggest influence was the Rita Moreno musical, West Side Story (1961). At age five, Jennifer began taking singing and dancing lessons. Aside from being a budding entertainer, Jennifer was also a Catholic schoolgirl, attending eight years at an all-girls catholic high school named "Holy Family", located in the Bronx, before graduating from Preston High School after a four-year stay. At school, Jennifer was an amazing athlete and participated in track and field and tennis. At age eighteen, Lopez moved out of her parent's home. During this time, Lopez worked at a law firm while she took dancing jobs at night.After high school, she briefly worked in a law office. During this time, she continued dance classes at night. At 18, she left home because her mother was scared by her decision to pursue show business. Her big break came when she was offered a job as a fly girl on Fox's hit comedy, In Living Color (1990). After a two-year stay at In Living Color (1990) where actress Rosie Perez served as choreographer, Lopez then went on to dance for famed singer-actress Janet Jackson. Her first major film was Gregory Nava's My Family (1995), and her career went into over-drive when she portrayed slain Tejana singer Selena Quintanilla Perez in Selena (1997). Show less «

I thought she'd offer me some sympathy. Instead, she said, "Don't you ever call me crying again! You wanted to be in this business, so you b...Show more »

I thought she'd offer me some sympathy. Instead, she said, "Don't you ever call me crying again! You wanted to be in this business, so you better toughen up!". And I did. [to Redbook magazine August 1999, on the lesson in tough love she got from her mother] Show less «

You laugh it off, you get upset for a little while, you're human and you let it go. [on the "outrageous" tabloid stories she hears about her...Show more »

You laugh it off, you get upset for a little while, you're human and you let it go. [on the "outrageous" tabloid stories she hears about herself, at a press conference to discuss her movie, The Cell (2000) in August 2000] Show less «

(on The Cell (2000)) This film certainly is not meant for the girls who sing along with my songs.

I was always a singer and a dancer, and I always wanted to be an actress. For me, it's all just one thing.

(upon being asked what she got on her SAT's) Nail polish.

[when asked if she ever feels insecure] When I'm not prepared, which is almost never.

I don't really check out other people's butts.

I'm not mad about my ankles - they're too skinny.

We've all had a love of our life and failed love affairs. I'm just the biggest romantic - it's really sad. I tell people that, but nobody li...Show more »

We've all had a love of our life and failed love affairs. I'm just the biggest romantic - it's really sad. I tell people that, but nobody listens. Show less «

I've always had a huge fear of dying or becoming ill. The thing I'm most afraid of, though, is being alone, which I think a lot of performer...Show more »

I've always had a huge fear of dying or becoming ill. The thing I'm most afraid of, though, is being alone, which I think a lot of performers fear. It's why we seek the limelight - so we're not alone, were adored. Were loved, so people want to be around us. The fear of being alone drives my life. Show less «

In every movie, they want you to look as thin as you can look. In Selena (1997), it was the other way around: "How can we shoot her butt so ...Show more »

In every movie, they want you to look as thin as you can look. In Selena (1997), it was the other way around: "How can we shoot her butt so it looks like Selena's?". Show less «

I only do what my gut tells me to. I think it's smart to listen to other people's advice, but at the end of the day, you're the only one who...Show more »

I only do what my gut tells me to. I think it's smart to listen to other people's advice, but at the end of the day, you're the only one who can tell you what's right for you. Show less «

If you focus on the money, you're not going to get anywhere. You can want to be successful, but at the end of the day, if money is your moti...Show more »

If you focus on the money, you're not going to get anywhere. You can want to be successful, but at the end of the day, if money is your motivation, if that's how shallow your outlook is on life, then you're going to be such an empty person. Because there's nothing driving you from the inside -- there's no passion... Show less «

My mom always told me that if you work hard, you can achieve anything. And it's true. It's one of the truest things ever.

I think crossroads come at many times during your life. Up to this point, I've had several. You get to a certain point in your life and you'...Show more »

I think crossroads come at many times during your life. Up to this point, I've had several. You get to a certain point in your life and you're like, Am I supposed to be doing this? And it's usually in the face of some failure - something that didn't work out the way you wanted it to. And you're faced with a decision: Do I keep trying to do this or do I give up? Show less «

Beauty is only skin deep. I think what's really important is finding a balance of mind, body and spirit. Somebody said to me not too long ag...Show more »

Beauty is only skin deep. I think what's really important is finding a balance of mind, body and spirit. Somebody said to me not too long ago, "Until you're twenty, you have the face you are born with, and after that you have the face you deserve", and I really loved that - the idea that you wear who you are on your face. Show less «

If you kiss on the first date and it's not right, then there will be no second date. Sometimes it's better to hold out and not kiss for a lo...Show more »

If you kiss on the first date and it's not right, then there will be no second date. Sometimes it's better to hold out and not kiss for a long time. I am a strong believer in kissing being very intimate, and the minute you kiss, the floodgates open for everything else. Show less «

I was in third grade when Rapper's Delight changed my life. But, when I came home, my mother would be listening to Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, ...Show more »

I was in third grade when Rapper's Delight changed my life. But, when I came home, my mother would be listening to Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Diana Ross. I want to include all those elements in my music. Show less «

I didn't expect it to happen like this, wrapping one film and flying out to do a new one the next day. But I'm fresh enough and ambitious en...Show more »

I didn't expect it to happen like this, wrapping one film and flying out to do a new one the next day. But I'm fresh enough and ambitious enough to stay up all night for the sake of a job. I'm not gonna take it easy. I want to do so much more when I'm getting these great opportunities. Show less «

I'm trying to get the focus back on what I do as an artist, not what I do at home.

It was all a bit mad. For a girl like me, wearing gorgeous clothes and having all this attention was amazing. It was like being a princess. ...Show more »

It was all a bit mad. For a girl like me, wearing gorgeous clothes and having all this attention was amazing. It was like being a princess. But it didn't take me long to realise that that sort of fame can be scary. The more the circus builds up around you, the more you start to lose all those intentions that get you there in the first place. I was always about being a good performer and working hard, doing movies, making music, but that started to get lost in all that crazy stuff. Show less «

I throw myself into love because I believe in it, but when things don't work you have to take responsibility. You all know things have gone ...Show more »

I throw myself into love because I believe in it, but when things don't work you have to take responsibility. You all know things have gone wrong for me. Everybody has laughed, everybody has had a knock at me. It hurts, it always does. There have been times when I didn't want to be me any more. From the outside looking in, it may have appeared that it was a glamorous exciting life, but I would have swapped places with anybody. It really did start to get to me and the easy thing to do would be to walk away. Show less «

I'm not J.Lo, she's not a real person. She was just a bit of fun that got really crazy. I've never been anyone but Jennifer. I was going to ...Show more »

I'm not J.Lo, she's not a real person. She was just a bit of fun that got really crazy. I've never been anyone but Jennifer. I was going to call the album "Call Me Jennifer" because that would be my way of saying goodbye to the whole J.Lo thing. But "Rebirth" is perfect because it means so much more. Show less «

It's business. Once they stop making money off you, they'll stop coming around.

Part of my business is about being in shape and looking good. You can't lie to yourself about it. But I'm not the monster I used to be in th...Show more »

Part of my business is about being in shape and looking good. You can't lie to yourself about it. But I'm not the monster I used to be in the exercise department. You get past your 20s, you've got kids... you're kind of unmotivated. You want to be healthy and look good, but you want to do the least amount to maintain that. Show less «

[2011] When I moved out to L.A. for the first time to do In Living Color (1990), my grandmother and my aunt all came to visit me in the firs...Show more »

[2011] When I moved out to L.A. for the first time to do In Living Color (1990), my grandmother and my aunt all came to visit me in the first week. And I thought, "This is really weird." But, they just wanted to see that I was living in a nice place. At that time, it was like, "Why are they visiting me already? I'm not even settled in." I didn't have furniture or anything. We all slept on the floor. Now that I think back, it was great. Show less «

Everyone wants a miracle cream, but there's no substitute for feeling great inside.

I've made a ton of mistakes, but you need the messy stuff; you learn from it.

I keep dancing. I may not be getting all the steps right, yet, but I'm dancing my heart out!

It has always bugged me that people would try to think that there's a "next Selena." It's like saying there's another James Dean or Marilyn ...Show more »

It has always bugged me that people would try to think that there's a "next Selena." It's like saying there's another James Dean or Marilyn Monroe. People like that don't come along every day. There is never going to be another Selena. Show less «