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Jennifer Lopez Q & A
 The daring diva talks shooting movies, making babies and kicking buttShe can act, sing, dance, design...The question isn't what Jennifer Lopez can do, but what she can't. The Latin beauty has been caught in a flurry of activity this past year, opening up a Cuban restaurant (Madre's) in California, designing her own clothing line (J.Lo by Jennifer Lopez) and keeping her musical career red hot by releasing a remix album (J to Tha L-O!). And now--with her latest film, Enough--the actress is adding "Street Fighter" to her overflowing résumé.
Lopez ascended to Hollywood's A-list after her star-making role in Selena. Since then, the Bronx-born beauty has delighted audiences in sultry thrillers like Out of Sight (opposite George Clooney) and Blood and Wine (with Jack Nicholson); comedies like The Wedding Planner (with Matthew McConaughey); and dramatic pieces such as The Cell (with Vincent D'Onofrio) and Angel Eyes (opposite James Caviezel).
In Enough, she takes on a serious role with a tough message. Lopez plays a woman who is devastated to discover she has fallen in love with a psychopath, brilliantly portrayed by Once and Again's Billy Campbell. To protect her daughter, she crisscrosses the country to avoid her abusive husband, who is intent on murder. As in Angel Eyes, Lopez delivers a stunning portrayal of a woman dealing with violence in her own life.
The sexy 31-year-old siren recently took a short break from filming her next film, Uptown Girl, in New York to talk about beating down TV's nicest guy, being a powerful Hollywood player and finding time to be a mother.
In Enough, you transform from scared single mother to lean, mean fighting machine. You really kick butt! Looks like you could take on just about anybody right now.
You know, let's just leave it out there that I could.
 What did it take to get into the shape you're in?I started training about two months before the movie started. Luckily, we didn't shoot the big fight scene with Billy Campbell until very late in the filming, so I had all the time to prepare that I needed. I think it was important, because the whole movie relied on me pulling off that final confrontation.
It's hard to believe you can really overcome a guy as big as Billy Campbell, but you definitely pull it off. What did you do to prepare for that scene?
I brought the script to my trainer, and he said, "You should use this [self-defense technique] called Krav Maga. It basically levels out the playing field between men and women." It's a street-fighting thing; it's about getting out of the way and then counterattacking. You use the weight of the other person to get the upper hand.
Have you ever had to use it off the set?
[Laughs.] No, thank God!
Billy Campbell says he bruised his ribs during the final battle. Did you know that?
When you do a scene like that it, you do it so many times that no matter how well rehearsed you are, once you factor in the adrenaline, you're going to slip. He'd have bruises. But I'd have my bruises, too. With action stuff, it's just always going to happen.
This is an action thriller, but it also has a message. The message, to me, is that it doesn't matter what type or how bad a situation is, you still have the power within yourself to change it or get out of it. It's like a female Rocky; it has the entertainment value, but it also has a very clear, positive message.
The domestic-violence angle isn't new for you; you dealt with it in Angel Eyes.
Yes. This isn't the first time I've done a movie that dealt with that topic, and I had to do research. So, you talk to people, you read books, you go on the Internet and you read stories. There's a lot of stuff out there.
Did anything surprise you?
I think it's easy for anyone who is looking from the outside to be judgmental about it, but when you're in the situation, the essential thing is that there is love involved. You can't really be reasonable sometimes when you're in love...You have to emotionally come to terms with it and then find the power to get out of it.
 Billy Campbell talked about having to meet with you before filming to get your approval. Is that true?Yes, we met with him, but it wasn't my approval!
Still, it must be great having that kind of pull. How does it feel being a powerful woman in Hollywood?
Am I a powerful woman in Hollywood now? It doesn't feel that way, but, I mean, there are times when it's a good feeling to be able to have an idea, have a vision for something, and people will listen. That's good. So, in that way I feel like I have some sort of pull. But a powerful woman of Hollywood? I don't know. That's kind of a big title.
There are always rumors circulating about how demanding you are. Do you get angry with the media portraying you as a diva?
I know. It's something I don't worry about, because I know it will be dispelled once people meet me and work with me. So much of it is bull and fabrication and lies--stuff for entertainment purposes. It's a shame they choose to put the label diva on the person who works harder than anybody else. I'm not complaining. I'm okay. I can handle it.
You wrote the ballad "Alive," which is featured on the Enough soundtrack and your album J to Tha L-O! The Remixes. How did the song come about?
It's funny, with this character and everything she went through arc-wise and where she started, how she fell in love. To go through all those things as an actress, you draw from many different things in your life. To make it really true and honest, you go through a purging. I felt I came out the other side [changed] as a person and an actress, like the character. I felt really inspired to write this thing.
Cris [Judd], my husband, was tinkering on the piano in October. It was after everything had happened in New York. I was listening. He doesn't play the piano, but he knows a couple of chords, and he made up this melody that was really beautiful. A little bit sounded like a movie...a bit haunting, and I said, "I can write something to that right now, and we can use it in Enough." So, I started thinking about the movie and what I had gone through and that grateful feeling to be here! You know what I mean, keeping it simple because life can get so complicated...and being healthy and alive.
Was it a hard sell to the producer and director?
Well, they wanted me to do something. But I can't force those things. They kind of just have to happen. This is not the type of music I make all the time, but I know there's something inside me that I have to offer. And--I don't know--things happen. There's a weird way in which things happen naturally and organically.
Your career is booming. Is that what you expected?
I did...I had a plan. This year, the most pleasant surprise I had was how well people received the music. You love the music you do, and musicians love the music, but you never know how it's going to be received. With movies, it's more of a collaborative thing. It's a little bit more out of your control. You say, I'm happy with my work--or I'm not.
Music is going to come out the way you want it to, and the rest is up to the universe. The fact that [J to Tha L-O] had successes, coming off the J.Lo album, having a few more number ones, all that...I just couldn't believe it. It's overwhelming for me, but it also makes me so happy, because music is so personal to me.
 You're also currently filming Uptown Girl, costarring Ralph Fiennes as a rich aristocrat who falls in love with you. Tell us a little about it.It's a romantic comedy. I play a maid who lives in the Bronx, and she's a single mother.
And after Uptown Girl, you've got Gigli, an action-romance with Ben Affleck as a hit man seeking the big score. Rumor has it you actually get a little girl-on- girl action. Is it true you play a lesbian and there's a lesbian kiss?
[Laughs.] Well, in the movie, I play a lesbian. But no--there was no kissing.
What's next on the music front?
I've been doing a lot of writing, and I'm looking forward to getting back into the studio. I've been talking to my producer a lot, and we've been relating--even though I've been making movies--about what we want to do and where we want to go, and taking our time about really, really finding a sound. The first two albums, even though I'm very proud of them, were quick projects for us. We have a lot of ideas, but I can't say when I'll put out another single. It could be this summer, or it could be next winter.
Back to films...You play a mom in Enough and another single mom in Uptown Girl. Any of these motherly characters rubbing off on you? Are you ever going to find the time become a mom?
I don't know. It's something I want in my life, obviously. I've said it a million times. I come from a great, loving family, and I'd like to have the same thing. It will happen naturally. I can't say, "Okay, I'm going to have a baby next August."
With your clothing line, the music and the acting--you're busier than Martha Stewart.
That's a big statement. [Laughs.] I should be getting more money.
But do you ever have time for yourself?
Not that much! I try to concentrate on getting good rest, because I do love what I do. I'm not about going out all the time, going out to dinner or clubs. It's just not me. So, it's okay. I just like to be around my loved ones, visit and be close--and that's enough for me.
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