Second Act just one chapter of J. Lo’s life
New film, kids, Alex Rodriguez play roles in phase Lopez vows will ‘rock hard’
More than an hour past her scheduled talk time, a game-faced Jennifer Lopez rolls into a suite at the Four Seasons Hotel with an entourage of ten portable racks of clothes and a mega-suitcase filled with designer heels.
Showtime kicks into higher gear as Lopez decides the photo-shoot, setting calls for a charcoal Stephane Rolland gown with Tom Ford heels as a table for one with a leafy salad, three glasses of ice water and a perfect cut of filet mignon is rolled in. But when the star’s iPhone rings, the world stops. Lopez turns on her speakerphone to take a call from beau Alex Rodriguez, chirping, “Hi, Baby!” “Are you killing it?” Rodriguez asks. “Yes, we’re killing it,” Lopez says with a smile. “Let me call you back.”
If Rodriguez needs proof, Lopez, 49, turns on the superstar smoulder for a photographer to promote her return to the big screen in romantic comedy Sec
ond Act (now in theatres). “Killing it” also describes Lopez’s unstoppable career in a year when she was named one of Time magazine’s Most Influential People. Her Second Act arrives as the star has branched out to every corner of the entertainment world. The one-time “Fly Girl” from Fox’s sketch-comedy series In Living
Color executive produces and judges NBC competition World of Dance (the third season premieres Feb. 26); produced and starred as a single-mom detective in the three-season NBC drama
Shades of Blue, which ended in August; and wrapped up a120-night residency at Las Vegas’ Planet Hollywood in October. But now it’s time for a return to a Maid
in Manhattan- style romantic comedy. At all levels, naturally: Lopez stars, produces and performs “Limitless,” the film’s original song by Sia.
“I’m not going to let anyone put me in a box or define me because I decided to do TV and produce for a few years, or be- cause I decided to do Vegas,” says Lopez, digging into her high-protein meal. “I forge my own path. I go where my heart takes me and where I feel like the best, most authentic place for me to be is.”
For the Bronx-born Lopez, that place is this personal story, written for her by producing partner Elaine GoldsmithThomas and Justin Zackham. Second Act centres on GED-certified, streetsmart Maya Vargas, who bluffs her way from assistant manager at her Queens big-box store to a Madison Ave. consumer-products firm.
Lopez revelled in using her hometown as a backdrop — riding the subway for scenes (“it took me back a little bit”), filming in Central Park and Michael Jordan’s the Steakhouse in Grand Central Station, and busting out in laughter when best friend and co-star Leah Remini got her heel stuck on the wooden planked High Line, an abandoned railroad-turned-park, in front of paparazzi.
Starring with the Brooklyn-born Remini, who plays Maya’s foul-mouthed best friend, not only adds to Lopez’s effort to inspire with an everyday-women story, but rings true to life.
“I have a relationship like this with one person in my life. That’s Leah. We laugh until we pee our pants and we don’t BS each other,” says Lopez. “We’re solid rock, there for each other in the tough times. I wanted to capture what we have in real life onscreen.”
Lopez’s home life is also hitting a rocksolid second act with former Yankees star (and now TV baseball analyst) Rodriguez, whom she’s dated since February 2017. An Instagram post featuring her 10-year-old twins Max and Emme (with third ex-husband Marc Anthony) decorating the Christmas tree with Rodriguez and his daughters, Ella, 10, and Natasha, 14, sums it up in her mind.
“Alex, myself, his kid, my kids. We’ve all evolved and grown into a family and grown as individuals because of that love. That’s a beautiful thing,” says Lopez.
She loves that Rodriguez shares her strong family values and shows unconditional love, as demonstrated by that check-in for a phone pep talk.
As for the sometimes fevered specula- tion about whether Lopez will marry Rodriguez, she gets it. But after three past marriages, she is in no rush.
“We’re kind of taking it day-by-day. We’re in a good place. 2018 moved us to a place where we feel like a real family,” she says. “And that’s good enough right now.”
The extended family is front and centre in her dizzying, uncompromising schedule.
On the horizon is the film The Hustler at Scores, awaiting final green light to begin shooting in March, recording sessions in her Miami home while the kids are at school, a concert tour when the kids are available to travel and another film likely for next summer. She ticks off these items effortlessly.
“Second act is kind of a theme for us right now,” she says. “And this second act is so going to rock, it’s going to rock hard.”