Actor Biography - Jennifer Lopez Posted by: Hollywood Lot Staff

Although the world now knows Jennifer Lopez for her hugely popular music career, Lopez gained acclaim and recognition first as an actress. Her work as the title character in Selena in 1997 brought Lopez a Golden Globe nomination and attention from the public and media critics alike.

The following year Lopez starred opposite George Clooney in Steven Soderbergh’s Out of Site. In 2000, Lopez starred in the eerie sci-fi film The Cell.

Lopez made box office history the next year, 2001, by becoming the first woman to have the number one movie and number one album in the same week. The romantic comedy The Wedding Planner, starring Lopez with co-star Matthew McConaughey, was the top selling movie in the nation while her second album “J.Lo” debuted at the top of the Billboard Top 200 Chart.

In 2002 Lopez starred in another romantic comedy, Maid in Manhattan, opposite Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, Bob Hoskins and Natasha Richardson, as well as Kevin Smith’s comedy Jersey Girl. Jersey Girl was the first of two movies that Lopez co-starred in with her former fiancé Ben Affleck. The other, Gigli, was considered by critics to be an over-hyped flop. The couple soon ended their relationship after its debut.

But, despite having her personal life drama on display, Lopez has garnered several reputable awards. In 2002, Lopez was awarded “ShoWest Female Star of the Year.” Additionally, the National Council of La Raza, the largest Latino advocacy group in the nation, named her “Entertainer of the Year” at the American Latino Media Arts Awards (ALMA) for TV and film.

Lopez made her feature debut in the Mi Familia, garnering an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her role as the young mother ‘Maria Sanchez.’ Her other film credits include Oliver Stone’s U-Turn, Money Train, starring Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes, Francis Ford Coppola’s Jack, starring Robin Williams, the drama Blood and Wine, opposite Jack Nicholson, Luis Mandoki’s Angel Eyes, Michael Apted’s thriller Enough and the action film Anaconda with Jon Voigt, Eric Stoltz and Ice Cube. Her voice can also be heard in the animated feature Antz also starring voice talent from Woody Allen and Sylvester Stallone.

Lopez was more recently seen opposite Robert Redford and Morgan Freeman in Lasse Halstrom’s An Unfinished Life. She also stars with Jane Fonda in the romantic comedy Monster-In-Law and with her husband Marc Anthony in El Cantante.