From her breakout role in Selena to becoming a global icon, Jennifer Lopez—also known as J.Lo—has built one of Hollywood’s most enduring and influential careers. As a powerhouse performer, entrepreneur, and fashion icon, she has shattered barriers for Latinas in the entertainment industry.
Jennifer Lopez, as Mary Fiore in The Wedding Planner, looks polished in a baby blue sheath dress layered under a camel trench coat, paired with nude pointed-toe pumps and a matching leather handbag (Credit: Columbia Pictures)
Lopez faced stereotypical casting early in her career, often considered only for roles like maids or supporting characters. Determined to break through, she made history as the first Latina actress to earn $1 million for a film.
Her career reached new heights with The Wedding Planner (2001), marking the beginning of her run as a leading lady. Since then, Lopez has continued to expand her creative empire, starring in and producing numerous films through her own company, Nuyorican Productions.
Jennifer Lopez stuns as Dr. Catherine Deane in The Cell, wearing an ethereal, sculptural white gown with feathered accents that heighten the film’s surreal dreamscape
These films include Bordertown (2006), El Cantante (2006), Feel the Noise (2007), The Boy Next Door (2015), Second Act (2018), Hustlers (2019), and her rom-com with Owen Wilson, Marry Me.
A Bold Fall Fashion Moment: Jennifer Lopez Stuns in Brunello Cucinelli
Looking like the powerful woman she is, Jennifer Lopez exuded glamour as she was spotted leaving The Soho House in Sunset Boulevard on a Friday night in October 2020.
Jennifer Lopez leaves Soho House West Hollywood in a cozy-chic look, pairing wide-leg Brunello Cucinelli pants with a plunging top, knit cardigan, and towering platform boots from her DSW collection on October 23, 2020 (Credit: Instar / WENN / Sidewalk / Marcus Hoffman)
Not to be confused with George or Mario Lopez, she strutted down the sidewalk in a cleavage-baring low-cut white top tucked into a pair of Brunello Cucinelli Fall 2019 high-waisted black pants.
J.Lo layered the look with a cozy, multicolored sweater to conceal her famous curves, perfectly matching her glittery TaylorMadeBling gold drip Dsw cup.
Glam Accessories: Luxe Details from J.Lo’s Soho House Look
Handcrafted from cashmere, mohair, and silk, her cozy, multicolored front-open cardigan features a geometric design, thread embroidery with sequins, and black belt detail.
Jennifer Lopez elevated her cozy ensemble with bold accessories, including oversized hoop earrings, a black Dior Arty cap with veil detail, a glittering TaylorMadeBling tumbler, and a croc-embossed handbag
The multi-hyphenate star glammed up further with a pair of Lana Jewelry Flawless diamond-studded hoop earrings and her Vivid Diamonds & Jewelry emerald-cut engagement ring.
Injecting some added style to the look, J.Lo hid her ponytail underneath a black Dior Arty cap with a veil detail. She skipped wearing a face mask and showed off her beautiful features, highlighted with bronzer and nude lipstick.
Jennifer Lopez wears bronzer and a nude lip shade, topping off her look with a Dior newsboy cap and carrying a sparkling TaylorMadeBling gold-drip tumbler
Killer Boots: Jennifer Lopez Rocks Her Own Combat Boot Collection
J.Lo chose a pair of trendy combat boots from her collaboration with DSW. She slipped into the Jahliah faux leather combat boots, which feature full-length lacing down the toes and moto buckled ankle straps.
Jennifer Lopez completes her perfect fall outfit with J.Lo x DSW combat boots
Her shoes also have inside zips, round toes, 1-inch platforms, and 5-inch block heels with synthetic lug soles.
The Jahliah booties feature full-length lacing down to the toe and a wrapped moto strap
Who Gave Jennifer Lopez the Iconic Nickname ‘J.Lo’?
“J. Lo came from Heavy D,” she told fellow World of Dance judges Ne-Yo and Derek Hough during a commercial break on a World of Dance episode aired on July 21, 2020.
“The rapper. He would come into the studio when I was making my first album, and he would always call me Jenny Lo. And I was dating Puffy at the time, and so, Puffy and Jennifer Lo, or Jenny Lo, was showing up in records. Like, they were talking about us in records and stuff like that.”
Jennifer Lopez turns heads in a shimmering gold halter dress while attending the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards with Sean “Puffy” Combs at the Metropolitan Opera House in NYC
Jennifer Lopez and Sean “Diddy” Combs began dating in 1999, one year after she divorced Cuban waiter Ojani Noa.
They met on the set of a music video for her debut album, On the 6, which was released on June 1, 1999. Combs and Lopez split in February 2001. A year later, she started dating Ben Affleck.
Breaking Barriers: How Jennifer Lopez Fought Latin Stereotypes in Hollywood
At the beginning of her acting career, she always wanted to play the “lead” and not just the typical Latin role of a cook or a nanny.
“Back then, it was just like, ‘How am I going to be an actress?’ and in my mind, I was like, ‘I want to play the girl, the woman.’ Just not the Latin woman in the Latin role where you think I should play the cook or the nanny or something like that,” J.Lo told Zane Lowe on Apple Music’s At Home With session.
Jennifer Lopez radiates early 2000s charm in a sparkly off-the-shoulder mint green sweater while celebrating the release of her debut album On the 6 in 1999
“I wanted to be the lead. I wanted to just represent for everybody and make everybody see that it didn’t matter if you were Latin or black or Asian or whatever. You’re a girl, you’re a human being. And so there was those challenges of breaking through that.”
During Billboard Latin Week, J.Lo said via Hollywood Reporter: “I never wanted to be put in a box. I wanted to always be a person. Look at me like I’m a person. Don’t look at me like I’m one of type of person, like I’m just a Latin girl over here and I can only do these things.”
“No, I can do anything. You should let me play the president of the United States. I should be able to do that. It’s always been my goal with my career to show diversity in the different things and characters that I could play.”
Rumored to have undergone plastic surgery, J.Lo was recently featured in Variety’s Power of Women Conversations, where she opened up about being stereotyped at auditions.
“When I started, I would always go in for what they would call the maid, the Rosie Perez-type role, the dishwasher. I was like, ‘I don’t want to do that.’ I had to kind of break out of that, and convince somebody to put me in the first romantic comedy, which was The Wedding Planner.”