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The Fly Girl Takes Off: Lopez’s Career Soars

Article Overview: After Lopez made the move to Hollywood, opportunities seemed to abound. She continued to star as a Fly Girl on the hugely successful In Living Color for two years, before deciding to move on to bigger and brighter things. She gained roles as a dancer in numerous music videos, including Janet Jackson’s That’s the Way Love Goes. She was even offered the chance to tour on Jackson’s world tour but turned it down. Lopez had greater ambitions.

The Fly Girl Takes Off: Lopez’s Career Soars

After Lopez made the move to Hollywood, opportunities seemed to abound. She continued to star as a Fly Girl on the hugely successful In Living Color for two years, before deciding to move on to bigger and brighter things. She gained roles as a dancer in numerous music videos, including Janet Jackson’s That’s the Way Love Goes. She was even offered the chance to tour on Jackson’s world tour but turned it down. Lopez had greater ambitions.

She landed a key role in The Crash of Flight 7, which she then followed up with roles in three other films: Second Chances, South Central, and Hotel Malibu. Lopez’s career was finally on the rise, taking more of the direction she saw for herself. After winning an Independent Spirit nomination for her role in My Family, Lopez was offered a role in the high profile Money Train, co-starring Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. She then beat out other top-name actors to land a leading role in Francis Ford Coppola’s Jack.

Lopez continued to receive opportunities to star opposite Hollywood hotshots, but it wasn’t until 1998 when her talents would truly be recognized by the world. Taking on the role of the young American Latina singer sensation Selena Quintanilla who was killed by the president of her own fan club, Lopez won a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in Selena. Her film career continued to get bigger, landing starring roles in the successful Anaconda, U-Turn, Out of Sight, the animated Antz, The Cell and The Wedding Planner.

Her interest in singing was also rekindled during the filming of Selena and a bidding war soon ensued between record companies, with Lopez finally signing a recording contract with Tommy Mottola’s Sony. She first appeared in a music video for Puff Daddy, and later recorded a duet with Marc Anthony. In 1999, Lopez and Sony agreed that she was ready to release her own album. On the 6 was an instant hit in all of the hip-hop, Latin and pop markets. She followed this up in 2001 and 2002 with J.Lo and This is Me…Then, respectively.

As Lopez’s salary for each movie topped the $10 million mark, she decided to venture into the fashion business, creating Sweetface Fashion and launching both a cosmetics line and her Glow by J.Lo and Live perfumes. She also opened a Cuban fare restaurant in Pasadena, Madre’s. But, she managed to maintain a balance between entrepreneur and actress/singer, continuing to make such smash hits as Angel Eyes and Maid in Manhattan and the less successful Gigli, Jersey Girl and Shall We Dance.

2005 would prove to be a similarly busy year for Lopez. While her film Monster-In-Law was a success, An Unfinished Life was barely picked up by the critics or the public. She released a fourth album, Rebirth, but it was not as successful as her first three. Her perfumes continued to be a success, but her clothing line was suffering from attacks by PETA for its use of fur. Most recently, Lopez has completed two films, Bordertown and El Cantate, both of which have received critical acclaim. She also created her own production company, Nuyorican Productions, whose name was chosen because of the mix of her New York and Puerto Rican upbringing. A relatively new venture, Nuyorican produced her 2006 films and continues to involve itself in general television and film production.

With numerous blockbuster movies, smash hit albums, a clothing line, a cosmetics line, fragrances, a restaurant and a production company under her belt, Lopez has demonstrated not only her strong ambition, endless energy and entrepreneurial spirit, but also her knack for understanding what it takes to be successful under any circumstance.

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Article Tags: antz, bidding war, film career, fly girl, francis ford, golden globe nomination, hollywood hotshots, hotel malibu, independent spirit, jack lopez, janet jacksons, living color, marc anthony, money train, pop markets, puff daddy, second chances, selena quintanilla, wesley snipes, woody harrelson



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