BeatBoxBetty interviews Jennifer Lopez from The Wedding Planner

Written By: BeatBoxBetty
- January 2001

Riding a wave of successful hit singles like "If You Had My Love" and "Waiting For Tonight," and endowed with perhaps the most famous backside in history, JENNIFER LOPEZ has finally arrived.

Although she started out as a Flygirl in Fox's "In Living Color", after roles in "Selena," "Out of Sight" and last year's "The Cell," Lopez managed to tackle Hollywood's "blonde bombshell" syndrome with her own brand of dark and dangerous curves. And her timing couldn't be better.

Her latest album, "J.Lo," is being released the same week her new romantic comedy, "The Wedding Planner" hits theaters - which also features the hot new single from the album, "Love Don't Cost A Thing."

Recently, I got a chance to speak with Jennifer about her music, her role in "The Wedding Planner" and her hunky co-star MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY. Here's how that conversation went...

JENNIFER LOPEZ
Photo courtesy of
Columbia Pictures, Inc.

BETTY: First off, that dress at last year's Grammy Awards was amazing. I think people remember that damn dress more than who won. How on Earth do you find the outfits we see you in?
JENNIFER: I work with a couple different stylists who've been working with me for years and they know my tastes. I'm glad everyone liked the dress. Puff and my publicist were in the room when I tried it on, and they said, "Wow. That's a lot!" But I was comfortable in it and I wanted to wear it. But I didn't know it was gong to be such a big deal.

BETTY: What with the Puff Daddy connection and people making such a fuss over that dress, you sure seem to be the target of a lot of rumors. Does that ever hamper your creativity?
JENNIFER: No. You know why? Because I don't keep abreast of everything that's going on. I don't know what reports are out there. And the people that I work with everyday know better not to tell me. The only thing I can control is my work. I can control how I dance, how I act in a movie, etc. If you start worrying about what's being said about you, you'll go crazy. A lot of times it's negative and you can't let the outside world do that to you.

BETTY: Is it harder to maintain your relationship [with Puff Daddy] with all the scrutiny you get from the media?
JENNIFER: We're human beings and I think sometimes people forget that. You know what I mean? Because we're always so two dimensional on a paper or on the TV. But we have feelings and we also have obligations to our jobs and just like every other woman in this world, try to be SuperWoman.

LOPEZ & MCCONAUGHEY ON THE SET OF
"THE WEDDING PLANNER"
Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures

BETTY: Speaking of ... What was it about the role of Mary in "The Wedding Planner" that made you want this part?
JENNIFER: I wanted to do a romantic comedy and they're really hard to find. This was one of the first ones that I loved. I love her quirkiness and her drive.

BETTY: What was it like doing all of that physical comedy?
JENNIFER: I love that stuff. I'm the silliest. I may look very lady-like and present myself in a certain way, but I'm as goofy as they come.

BETTY: One of the funniest moments of the film is when your character is running behind the columns at a wedding she planned and then walking calmly in front of the guests. Was that in the script or did you come up with that?
JENNIFER: That was my idea. And the shoe getting stuck in the manhole and the lipstick scene...those were all mine.

BETTY: I loved the tango scene too. But you and Matthew had so much dialogue going on while moving - was that difficult to shoot?
JENNIFER: That was a tough scene because of the dialogue and because we didn't have music playing while we were dancing. So we were dancing to no music, just talking to each other - and they dropped the music in later. It was very challenging.

BETTY: And what about Matthew, who had no dancing experience. How was it moving around with him?
JENNIFER: I was very impressed with him. I told him that it was a very tough scene to shoot - and I'm a dancer!

BETTY: This is really your first comedy. Were you nervous about it?
JENNIFER: It's hard, because even in dramas, when you try to deliver a funny line, you know it's suppose to be funny, but it doesn't always come out that way. I wasn't sure that I'd be able to pull it off but I know I wanted to do it. And I knew I could play the romance part of it very easily, so I thought, "Damn, I should just jump in feet first."

BETTY: Is comedy harder to do?
JENNIFER: Yeah. It's definitely more challenging.

LOPEZ & MCCONAUGHEY GETTING CLOSE IN
"THE WEDDING PLANNER"
Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures

ORDER JENNIFER'S BRAND NEW ALBUM - "J.LO"

BETTY: Can you tell us about the new album?
JENNIFER: I'm very excited about it. I'm happy with it and I feel like it's more my point of view and my type of music. The first album was great but it's been 2 years and I've learned so much more. I also wrote seven songs on the album. To me, "Love Don't Cost A Thing" which is the album's first single, is good. But there are five other songs that are just as good if not better.

BETTY: Are you planning to go on tour for the album? JENNIFER: Yes. I start a movie at the end of March and I'll do that for 10 weeks and then we'll start rehearsing for a tour. Hopefully.

BETTY: Here's an off the wall question for you; what does Jennifer Lopez like to do when she has free time at home? JENNIFER: I like to have the heat set really high... I like it tropical. And then I have a fan going... and then I'll have the TV on watching videos... and if I'm lucky, somebody's already cooked for me - like my maid or my mother... and then if I have some company - like a boyfriend or girlfriend... I can chill there all night and I don't care what's going on in the world.

BETTY: Sounds great. When am I coming over?
JENNIFER: [Laughs and leaves the room]

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