Jennifer Lopez (New York, 1969) grew in a modest Bronx apartment, a neighborhood mostly immigrants – among them, Latinos like their parents – separated from Manhattan’s opulence by the Harlem River. There, spring temperatures barely relieve the rawness of winter, when the thermometer falls below 0 ° C. But that stage is only a memory for the singer and actress, who moved to Los Angeles in the 90s when his career took off. Today, Lopez receives The avant -garde In his home of Beverly Hills. Although the sun shines with the characteristic warmth of California and they make 20 ° C, it is sheltered with a wool card while accommodating one of the sofas in its living room, next to a fireplace on. “I never liked the cold and it was what I least liked from New York, your shoes were always wet, your frozen feet, and you felt that the lips and nose were going to fall, it was the worst,” he recalls. Despite the immensity of space, fire brings a cozy warmth, enhanced by decoration: clear wood soils and shelves full of books that climb to the roof. “I can’t wait to get to Spain and feel the true heat of summer.”
The singer will perform in Barcelona on July 15, at the Palau Sant Jordi, as part of her new tour Up All Night which will also take it for Pontevedra, Málaga, Cádiz, Madrid and Bilbao, in addition to other European cities. JLo takes up his live career after having canceled the tour last year This is me … live shortly after his separation from Ben Affleck. “I had a very difficult year and now I am finally on the other side, I have learned so much about myself, about life, about love, about people, and I really feel very good.” For the first time since his divorce, Jennifer Lopez agrees to open the doors of his home to the press. Before starting the interview, one of his attendees brings him a capuchino. “Thank you,” Lopez replies in Spanish. From that moment on, the conversation takes place in English.
Jennifer Lopez during a concert in New York
I had a very difficult year and now I am finally on the other side, I feel very good ”
What can your followers of this show expect?
I have been thinking about what it will be like, although I still have not completely clear. I just made a show in Saudi Arabia, but I think I need to make some settings. I want to reflect who I am right now. The last time I went on stage with the tour It’s my party It was a great celebration. I feel this will be.
What was the most difficult to have to cancel your previous tour?
I was with my heart broken and I realized that it was not the most intelligent for my life at that time. The worst thing was to feel that I was disappointing people. We had already sold many tickets. I am glad to return to the stage and sooner than I thought, especially internationally, that it was something that I was not going to do last summer.
How has your relationship with music changed?
People do not know but I am always making music, even if I’m not taking out an album. Last year I surrounded the film adaptation of the musical Spider -woman kiss so I was learning all those songs. Then I published the album This is me … now. Since then I have recorded another 20 or 30 songs. I do it for me, because I love it. My relationship with music has always been closely linked to dance, I am a dancer first. The things that make me move, either physically or emotionally, are the ones that come to me. That has not changed over the years. Love has always been my main theme. And I think love now means something different for me. Before I thought about romantic love, now I think more about self -love.
Latin music turns the world at this time and for me it is a pleasure to see it, because I grew up in an era where everything was very stereotyped ”
Love is also a main topic in Spider -woman kiss.
It is a very important story and I want the Latin community to come to see it. We want to make more films like that, with three Latin stars in the main papers. Try to accept people for whom they are and allow them to love freely.
You are talking about a possible Oscar nomination again. Is it something what you think?
No. I feel very excited about my work and the things I have the opportunity to do. I hope to get bigger, better and more exciting roles. That for me is the greatest reward. The rest is like the icing on the cake and it is fun, but does not define who you are as an artist. I never felt that I did.
The worst thing to cancel the tour was to feel that I was disappointing people ”
Lately there has been a lot of reflection in his career. From launching an album 20 years after This is me … Then until again acting with Edward James Olmos, who played his father in Selena.
And he will play my father again. It gives me chills. Selena It was a very special moment in my life. Eddie was a mentor for me and gave me the most important advice I have received as an actress. We were filming the great scene of the concert with 70,000 people in the place. I had never made a concert in my life then. I had learned all the steps, everything was carefully choreographed. We did the first shot and then he approached and said: ‘You know. You have it. Now forget everything. Get out there and simply be you ‘. He knew how much he had worked, he had seen it. So I told myself: ‘Ok, I’m going to be Selena’. And that was what I did. That experience taught me what it means to be free in front of the camera.
Jennifer Lopez at the premiere of ‘The Kiss of Spider Women’ at the Sundance Film Festival
With Selena, he became the first Latin actress to receive one million dollars for a role. How has the panorama changed for Latin artists since then, especially in music, where the lists dominate today?
Latin music turns the world at this time and for me it is a pleasure to see it, because I grew up in an era where everything was very stereotyped. It has become a little more acceptable, but I still feel that, as an actress, although I receive many great scripts, my best papers are yet to come, and I am excited about that.
The Super Bowl was the perfect platform to say what he wanted at that time ”
How does music and performance balance?
It’s curious, because last year I didn’t work at all. Once I canceled the tour, which was in May, I did not work until I started to roll Office Romance In March. I spent a year without working. I dedicated myself to myself. I wanted to be in my house with my children. Once I resumed work one thing happened after another.
When was the last time a break had been taken?
Since I got on that kind of hamster wheel, as they say, I had never stopped. I remember before the pandemic, I had to make the movie Hustlers And I felt that I needed to take the summer to be with my children. Then I delayed the filming until the following year. That was the only time I did that in my career.
How do your children influence their work decisions?
When they were little, I could take them everywhere with me. They were educated at home until eight, so I worked and they came with me. But there came a time, when they were nine years old, in which they asked me to go to a normal school. I would have had them with me all the time, but when they said that, I understood that I had to be selfless and let them fly a little. Sometimes I wonder if I regret it, if you might have made another decision. Then the pandemic arrived and I was at home. It has been a round trip, but this is life.
I am the same girl who was in the Bronx and I finally give myself credit for everything I have done ”
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Five years have passed since their presentation in the Super Bowl’s part -time show, an performance with a very powerful political message, especially for the Latin community (he put the dancers in cages as Trump did with immigrants in his first mandate). Does something similar plan for your next performances?
I think about it and I realize that this stage was the perfect platform at the right time, everyone was looking. What I do always has a meaning, if you look for it. I am not in favor of launching messages aggressively. I prefer to present them subtle. This has always been with my art. During this year that I took for me, I have reflected on what kind of person, artist, mother, daughter and partner I want to be. In such a turbulent time, not only in the United States but in the entire world, I have reached a very clear conclusion: the most important thing is love. It is the only thing that really makes sense of this life. That is what I want to convey for the rest of the time I have.
Looking back, from the Bronx to the global stage, do you ever think of the young Jennifer Lopez who just started?
I thought about that the other day, while I was on the set. I am there every day, put in the character of a romantic comedy, acting serious or fun scenes. Then the weekend arrives and they see me with the look of the pink panther – as they called my attire of Formula 1–. All those memes circulate and that night I am on stage, with the hair flying. That made me think. Who am I really? Am I that person on the stage? Am I the Set? Or the one who walks quietly outside the set? I realized that I am really the same girl who was in the Bronx. And now, after last year, I finally give you credit for everything you have done, for everything you have created. Now I can enjoy it in a different way, because I know that what they see on the red carpet or the stage is not me. It is a part of my work. It makes me happy, but I don’t confuse him with who I am really. It is a beautiful moment, and I’m glad to share it with everyone this summer, from this place where I am now, so different from last year. I feel that I have something really beautiful to offer them and that excites me deeply.
