50 Fun Facts About Jennifer Lopez

In which New York City borough was Jennifer Lopez born and raised?

The Bronx. When she quit college at 18 to dance full-time, her parents objected, so she moved out and slept at her dance studio.

Where were Lopez's parents, Guadalupe and David, both born?

Puerto Rico. At the 2020 Super Bowl she kept one detail secret until showtime: her feathered Stars and Stripes cape opened to show the island's flag inside.

Lopez got her break as a 'Fly Girl' dancer on which sketch comedy series?

In Living Color. With Lopez among its Fly Girls, a live 1992 episode pulled viewers away from the Super Bowl halftime show, and the NFL answered by booking Michael Jackson the next year.

Which future actress did Lopez teach dance to at the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club?

Kerry Washington. She remembers Lopez as a stand-in teacher at the club who then left for Los Angeles to chase a dancing career.

Lopez left the Fly Girls to work as a backup dancer for which pop star?

Janet Jackson. Lopez danced in her 'That's the Way Love Goes' video, then gave up dancing behind other stars to concentrate on acting.

Which 1997 film made Lopez the first Latina actress to earn $1 million for a role?

Selena. Performing as the singer in front of a crowd made Lopez want that for herself, and after filming she recorded the demo that started her music career.

Which 2002 Lopez single, with Ben Affleck in its video, insists that fame hasn't changed her?

Jenny from the Block. Its video, shot like paparazzi and security-camera footage, showed her and Affleck on a yacht while the tabloids were chasing the couple.

Which rapper co-starred with Lopez in the 1997 horror hit Anaconda?

Ice Cube. He played her cameraman, Danny Rich, and nearly 30 years later he came back for a cameo in the Jack Black and Paul Rudd reboot.

Lopez played a deputy US marshal opposite George Clooney in which 1998 Elmore Leonard adaptation?

Out of Sight. Her marshal and Clooney's bank robber start falling for each other while locked together in the trunk of a getaway car.

Lopez's 1999 debut album On the 6 is named after what?

A subway line. Early in her career the 6 train was her ride between her family's home and work in the city.

Which debut single gave Lopez five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1999?

If You Had My Love. Actors rarely cross over into pop, so critics were surprised when her first single topped the chart and its album quickly went platinum.

Lopez's green Versace dress at the 2000 Grammys led to the creation of which product?

Google Images. Searches for the dress were the most popular Google had yet seen, but it had no sure way to show people the picture, so the company built image search.

Which 2001 film gave Lopez the first simultaneous No. 1 album and No. 1 movie by a woman?

The Wedding Planner. Lopez got the part after Sarah Michelle Gellar had to turn it down because of her Buffy the Vampire Slayer schedule.

Which rapper's remix of 'I'm Real' pushed the song to No. 1 on the Hot 100?

Ja Rule. His 'Murder Remix' was really a new song under the old title, and its run to No. 1 drew enough complaints that Billboard changed its chart rules.

Which star played the ten-year-old in a grown man's body taught by Lopez's Miss Marquez in the 1996 film Jack?

Robin Williams. His Jack ages four times faster than normal, and Lopez's kind schoolteacher has to turn down the boy's first crush.

What colour was the diamond in the engagement ring Ben Affleck gave Lopez in 2002?

Pink. When he proposed again 20 years later he chose a green diamond instead, the shade she calls her lucky colour.

Which 2003 Lopez–Affleck film became a notorious box-office bomb?

Gigli. It took about $7 million worldwide, yet it is the film that brought the pair together and set off the tabloids' 'Bennifer' era.

Which martial art did Lopez learn for her role as an abused wife in Enough (2002)?

Krav Maga. Her character trains in the Israeli military's self-defence system so she can lure her husband into a showdown and beat him hand to hand.

Lopez played a single mother who falls for Ralph Fiennes's Senate candidate in which 2002 romantic comedy?

Maid in Manhattan. He meets her while she is trying on a hotel guest's designer outfit and takes the housekeeper for a wealthy guest.

Which screen legend played Lopez's antagonist in the 2005 comedy Monster-in-Law?

Jane Fonda. Playing the scheming mother of Lopez's fiance ended her 15 years away from the screen; her previous film was Stanley & Iris in 1990.

Lopez played Puchi, wife of which salsa legend, in the biopic El Cantante?

Héctor Lavoe. The film takes its title from his 1978 signature song, 'El Cantante', which fellow salsa star Rubén Blades wrote.

Lopez's career revived in 2011 when she became a judge on which TV talent show?

American Idol. People around her warned that a reality show would end her film career, but she took the judge's seat and calls it a big turning point.

Which Lopez single was 2011's best-selling single by a female artist worldwide?

On the Floor. Its hook reworks the 1989 dance craze 'Lambada', and the single did so well that the old record reappeared on a Billboard chart.

What animated character did Lopez voice in Ice Age: Continental Drift?

A sabre-tooth tiger named Shira. She starts out as first mate to the pirate ape Captain Gutt, then changes sides and ends up paired off with Diego.

Lopez was executive producer of which Freeform drama about a lesbian couple raising a family?

The Fosters. She backed it in memory of a late aunt, who faced prejudice for being gay and never got to raise a family of her own.

Which rapper led the 2014 World Cup song 'We Are One (Ole Ola)', with Lopez and Claudia Leitte as guests?

Pitbull. The record was his, and he, Lopez and Brazil's Claudia Leitte sang it together at the tournament's opening ceremony in São Paulo.

What was the name of Lopez's 120-show Las Vegas residency at Planet Hollywood?

All I Have. On its final night in 2018 her dancers surprised her mid-song by bringing her children on stage, closing a three-year run that took over $100 million.

Lopez played Harlee Santos, a detective forced to inform on her own squad, in which police drama?

Shades of Blue. Caught by the FBI, her corrupt detective turns informant against Ray Liotta's crew to stay out of prison and keep her daughter.

Which 2019 film earned Lopez a Golden Globe nomination for playing a veteran stripper?

Hustlers. It is based on a true story from a magazine report: New York dancers who drugged rich clients and ran up their credit cards.

With whom did Lopez co-headline the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show?

Shakira. During Lopez's half of the set her 11-year-old daughter, Emme, came on stage and sang with her.

Lopez broke into Spanish at Joe Biden's 2021 inauguration to recite the closing words of which text?

The Pledge of Allegiance. She called out its last words in Spanish during her medley of two patriotic songs, and also worked in a snippet of one of her own dance hits.

Which Colombian singer co-starred with Lopez and Owen Wilson in Marry Me (2022)?

Maluma. He plays her pop-star fiance, whose affair comes out just before their on-stage wedding, so she marries a stranger from the crowd instead.

Lopez co-wrote the bilingual children's book Con Pollo with which late-night host?

Jimmy Fallon. He said the two friends had always wanted to make something together and, as both are parents, settled on a children's book.

Lopez spent $20 million of her own money on which 2024 project after backers pulled out?

This Is Me... Now. The album came with a musical film about her love life, and Amazon bought it only after she had paid for it herself.

Lopez played Judy Robles, whose son Anthony became a one-legged wrestling champion, in which 2024 film?

Unstoppable. In the film Anthony passes up a scholarship elsewhere to walk on at Arizona State, where he has to fight for a place on the team, and ends up national champion.

Lopez played screen diva Ingrid Luna in which 2025 film musical directed by Bill Condon?

Kiss of the Spider Woman. Her diva exists only in an old Hollywood musical that one prisoner retells to his cellmate in an Argentine jail.

Lopez and her then-husband bought a stake in which NFL team in 2009?

Miami Dolphins. The couple bought in a few weeks after Gloria and Emilio Estefan had become part-owners of the same team.

Which Yankees star was Lopez engaged to from 2019 until their 2021 split?

Alex Rodriguez. They planned to marry in Italy in 2020, but the pandemic put the wedding on hold, and they called off the engagement the following spring.

What was the name of Lopez's first fragrance, launched in 2002?

Glow by JLo. It grew into a long line of follow-up scents, and Lopez calls it the first of her ventures to become a billion-dollar business.

Lopez launched a clothing and homeware collection in 2011 with which US department store chain?

Kohl's. An earlier label of hers had stopped trading in 2009, and of her first clothing line she said she had not been forceful enough about her own instincts.

Which cruise line named Lopez its chief 'entertainment and lifestyle' officer in 2022?

Virgin Voyages. She put her own money in as well, becoming an investor in Richard Branson's adults-only cruise line along with taking the title.

What does Delola, the brand Lopez launched in 2023, sell?

Bottled cocktails. Lopez, who says she has only the occasional drink, took the idea from the spritzes she found so popular on her trips to Italy.

Whose performance in West Side Story did Lopez credit as the major influence on her career?

Rita Moreno. With so few Latinas on screen when Lopez was a girl, Moreno's Anita was the one performer she felt she could identify with.

Lopez named which pop star as her first big musical influence?

Madonna. Lopez called her the quintessential performer of her youth, and a 1999 profile said Lopez was doing the Madonna trip in reverse: acting first, singing second.

Lopez was with which rap mogul, then her boyfriend, when shots were fired in a Times Square nightclub in 1999?

Sean Combs. Police stopped their car and charged them, but the count against Lopez was dropped within an hour and a jury cleared Combs of every charge in 2001.

Lopez's first marriage, in 1997, was to Ojani Noa, who worked as what?

Courts later stopped him publishing a book and using honeymoon footage; her second husband was dancer Cris Judd.

Which Lopez hit from her 1999 debut album was co-written by Gloria Estefan?

Let's Get Loud. At the 2020 Super Bowl she had her daughter sing it from inside a cage, to say, in her words, that every voice matters and should be raised.

Who co-headlined Lopez's first concert tour in 2007, when she was pregnant with twins?

Marc Anthony. On the tour's last night in Miami she ended weeks of rumours by telling the crowd they were expecting, which surprised even him.

Which record company won a bidding war with EMI Latin to sign Lopez before her debut album?

Sony. Its chief, Tommy Mottola, took her under his wing and sent her to Miami to work with producer Emilio Estefan.

Which star played the bored lawyer who signs up for Lopez's ballroom dance class in a 2004 film?

Richard Gere. Shall We Dance remade a Japanese box-office hit, with Lopez as the teacher whose lessons pull his lawyer out of a midlife rut.