When we used to watch the Fox comedy series In Living Color we thought the dancing “Fly Girls” were an entertaining and athletic diversion. Who would of thought then that one of those dancers would go off to become a critically-acclaimed actress?
Well, that happened to Jennifer Lopez. When Jennifer left In Living Color she landed some roles in shows that quickly flopped. Yet she must of found some rocket fuel, because she quickly landed four major roles in succession: a transit cop in Money Train, Robin Williams’ teacher in Jack, Jack Nicholson’s mistress in Blood and Wine, and the title role of the slain singer Selena. After that she snaked her way into Anaconda. Since then she has appeared in Oliver Stone’s U Turn and Out of Sight with George Clooney. She also went way out of sight by lending her voice to the computer animated Antz. When that film premiered at the 1998 Toronto International Film Festival, she was one of the most photographed women, and we have the pictures to prove it.
In 2000, Jennifer made the visually stunning film The Cell, and followed that up with The Wedding Planner and Angel Eyes in 2001. She also managed to kick some butt in 2002’s Enough.
By the way, did we mention that Jennifer also has a sizzling singing career? Her first album On The 6 did quite well on the charts and her second album, J.Lo came out the same time as her movie The Wedding Planner. Both hit number one in the same week.
Jennifer also managed to become a favorite subject for the tabloids. When she began to focus more on her music career, she began dating rapper Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs. In December of 1999, J. Lo and “Puffy” were arrested as they left the scene of a shooting at a NYC nightclub. Jennifer was not charged, and Puffy was acquitted on the charges he faced. The couple split up on Valentine’s Day 2001 and Jennifer married dancer/choreographer Cris Judd on September 29th, 2001. They were separated in June 2002.
Jennifer announced her engagement to Ben Affleck in November 2002. The couple will get married after J. Lo’s divorce from Cris Judd is finalized.