Jennifer Lopez covers the December issue of InStyle to promote Second Act, the cute-looking comedy where a simple outer-borough girl ends up pretending to have an Ivy League education and she ends up in a high-powered Manhattan job. It’s like a Cinderella story, only it’s about a woman’s career. In this interview, Jennifer is sort of reflective of that other path, the road she would have taken if she had never left the Bronx and become a global superstar. She’s also feeling reflective because she turns 50 years old in the next year. Which is a big deal. You can read the full InStyle piece here, and here are some highlights:
The road not taken: “If I didn’t have certain ambitions, I might have gotten married after high school and had kids and decided to get a job at a bank in Castle Hill, like my aunt did. It’s just that I had dreams and ideas that were different.”
Time’s Up: “It has taken time,but I think we’re in a very powerful moment where women are going, ‘Wait a minute. We’re not afraid to say what we deserve.’”
The importance of being a multi-hyphenate: “I don’t understand why you can’t be an actress and a singer and dancer as well. Like, that’s how this whole business started. Entertainment! And why can’t you be funny and also be a dramatic actress? OK, some people can’t do both. But if they can, let them!”
She thinks the Bennifer days were worse than the tabloid media today: “It was actually worse then. It was just crazy. Now at least I can show you who I am a little bit. Back then you just believed anything you read on the cover of a tabloid. Many times it wasn’t true, or it was like a third of the truth.” She acknowledges that young actors now face a whole new set of selfie-driven anxieties, “but they didn’t live through the tabloid era. Now I sound like my mom. ‘I used to walk uphill to school, before there were cars!’ ”
Her relationship with A-Rod: “When we met, we’d both already done a lot of work on ourselves. Everybody has flaws, and the people I want in my life are the people who recognize that and are willing to work on those flaws. It’s super-important: someone who’s willing to look at themselves and say, ‘OK, I’m not great here’ or ‘I could do better there.’ ”
Whether she’s feeling her age: Failing memory, flagging energy? Nope and nope. But she does throw me a few bones. Lopez has noticed that she’s been squinting at her phone lately, so she might need reading glasses soon. The middle of her back hurts occasionally. And she’s introduced weight training to her fitness routine after realizing that she now loses muscle whenever she dances too much. But mostly, she credits her looks to the wholesome habits she’s maintained throughout adulthood: no caffeine, no alcohol, lots of sleep. “I’ve taken care of myself, and now it shows,” she says.
She’s still hood: “It’s what I still often wear to this day, the big hoops and, you know, gold jewelry. I always like to mix the glam with a bit of the hood.”
I think she sounds fine here? She’s such a pop culture icon, and yet… I feel like there is one small part of her which is “down to earth,” at least more down to earth than many iconic performers/actors. And it is legit crazy that she’s in such incredible shape right now – you would have thought that the wheels would have started to come off in her early or mid 40s, like the rest of us peasants. But no. The worst thing to happen to her is that she might need reading glasses. Crazy.
As for what she says about the tabloid landscape being different and worse than circa 2003 than it is now…. I sort of understand her point. I also think that back then, the gossip landscape was just more centralized, and those were the last days of actual big, iconic celebrities. Now everyone is equally famous online and all of that.
Cover courtesy of InStyle, additional photos courtesy of WENN.
Does caffeine age you? She attributes her face to no drinking or caffeine … woops
Also, I miss the tabloid era!
My mother is almost sixty and has very few wrinkles. She’s been drinking coffee for most of her life. I think it has a lot to do with genetics and sun exposure more so than caffeine
I don’t know but I gave up caffeine because of JLo. Going strong since April, only the first week or so was hard but don’t really miss it much. It’s more the experience of going to a coffeee shop that I sometimes miss.
You can still do herbal tea at coffeeshops. I can’t drink coffee afternoon, but love to work in coffeeshops, so that’s my go to drink
I gave up booze partly because of JLo. It’s only been a few months, but my vain ass doesn’t look anything like her yet! LOL 🙂
There’s some research that indicates that caffeine breaks down collagen. And since we slowly lose collagen as we keep getting older, caffeine will only speed things up.
Anecdotal evidence, I was 24 when I started drinking coffee. Used to drink 2 cups a day at least. After about a year, I noticed that I started getting noticeable smile lines even when my face was resting. After I read the caffeine/collagen bit, I quit the coffee, and after about 6 months I noticed my smile lines had plumped up again and faded. Obviously there are always other factors into play, but some things affect/age people differently than others. I know caffeine does that to my skin, so I stay away.
It’s inappropriate to ask about “fading memory, flagging energy” of a person her age, it perpetuates stereotypes about old age and lowers the threshold for being old into early middle age.
Yes, it’s insulting. Interviewers never ask questions like that of famous men like Hugh Jackman, Will Smith, Daniel Craig or LL Cool J (also 50 this year).
Nah, the men ‘only get better,’ right?
It’s like asking a 48-year-old woman, “So, tell me, do you feel like crap? Now that you have one foot in the grave, do you even remember my name?”
Though I would like to interview Hugh Jackman thusly: “So Hugh, now that you’re 50, do you think you have enough judgment and moral character to stop socializing with members of a white-supremacist crime family that endorses sexual violence and puts children into cages?”
I love you @Who ARE These People and that question to Hugh would be wonderful.
Seems unfair of her not to mention the deal she made with the devil…
Seriously, it’s unreal how good she looks, and I think she almost always comes off well in interviews. I get what she’s saying – with social media you have more of an opportunity to write/control a narrative about yourself, but that can cause it’s own issues.
If by devil you mean a Deal with her Botox needles and surgeon, who does subtle work.
Still she looks fantastic and stays in top condition through workouts and dancing.
Sure, but lots of women make those deals and wind up looking far worse.
She looks amazing. And I always liked Lainey’s take on Jennifer and her love life. It’s been messy, but she’s never let it define her. She just keeps going. I really respect how hard she works.
I think that because celebrities are so available on social media now, it takes away some of those rabbid tactics that paparazzi used to try and get pictures of celebrities 24/7. Now, anyone can just check out their Instagram page.
Yeah! Celebrities today have a lot more control over their own “narratives” than they did in the ’90s and early ’00s. It’s easy to forget how bad it really was back then! It’s amazing that Aniston, Paltrow, JLo, and Jolie even survived that period. (Princess Diana didn’t. And Meg Ryan’s career didn’t.)
It felt like it got worse before it got better—I’m thinking about Perez Hilton’s forcible outings of gay celebrities, plus his relentless mockery of SJP and Rumer Willis—but his bullying may have helped precipitate celebrities realizing they could pipe up and clap back. So maybe it was a net good.
Lack of economic stress and the ability to focus on you and only you for the majority of the time…will also make you look and feel ageless….
IJS….
I am sure had she not become rich and famous, and perhaps worked a 12 hour shift in a factory, she might have aged differently. Though I must say her mom (a retired teacher) looks amazing for her age…so genes do play some part.
But there’s so many famous actresses younger than her that don’t look as good. You gotta take care of yourself too.
I can kind of see her point. So many ‘famous’ people are famous in their niches now. YouTube famous, twitter famous, Instagram famous, internet famous….Back then it was all centralized so all of of the media attention would really focus in on specific people. No escaping it-game was different back then.
I think the only reason Jennifer Lopez used to be labeled a “diva” back in the day is because of that ridiculous face she makes on red carpets haha. I’ve always liked her but her posing on red carpets has always been ridiculous and very try hard. She may be an actor/dancer/singer but she is not a model!
I CANNOT stand her squinty, open-mouth, I’m-so-sexay red carpet poses! They make me irrationally nuts. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if she hasn’t been deploying this method for yeeeeaaaaaarrrrrs, but seriously, it’s just ridiculous at this point. Other than that she seems like a nice person and a good mom who (mostly) keeps her kids out of the spotlight.
Hahahaha glad I’m not the only one who has noticed! She always looks like she’s having a hard time to read like she’s trying to read a far off sign or something. It’s never been sexy and will never be sexy.
It is true that despite her icon status, she is still so down to earth and comes across in interviews like she could be your friend. I like her friendship with Leah Remini who is in Second Act too! She’s such a good friend as she supported Leah when she left Co$ even though her dad is a scientologist.
I agree @DIegoinSF. She’s shown herself to be a true friend and stands with Puerto Rico too. I loved her comment during fundraising about things can’t be solved with a roll of paper towel (not an exact quote) and both of those loyalties are not risk-free.