Jennifer Lopez returns to movie screens with The Back-Up Plan, her first film since since 2006’s El Cantante with husband Marc Anthony.
But don’t call it a comeback. “I don’t really think of it that way. I was just home, kind of on maternity leave,” Lopez insists. “Now, you know, my first movie’s coming out since I was fat.”
The years Lopez spent away from the camera could be considered research for her latest role as Zoe, a single woman who decides to stop waiting for a man and get pregnant through in vitro fertilization. Two years ago, Lopez gave birth to fraternal twins Emme and Max.
“So many things in this movie was art imitating life for me because I had just gone through the pregnancy,” she says.
“It was really fresh in my mind.”
But aside from the whole pregnancy thing, Lopez didn’t necessarily have a lot in common with her character. “Zoe and I are so opposite. She was so comfortable being alone, and I’m so uncomfortable being alone,” she says. “In a sense it made me admire her. I loved playing her because I envy people like this. I kind of wish I was like her.”
Looking at Lopez in The Back-Up Plan, it’s hard to tell she had a pair of six-month-olds at home, but she insists recovering her famous curves wasn’t easy.
“Getting back into shape was challenging, like it is for anyone who has a baby,” she admits.
“The first few pounds drop off really fast, and then you’re stuck with those last 10 to 20 pounds. And then you’ve really got to get disciplined.” Having a movie to shoot proved to be the perfect motivation. “That was another level of having to not eat as much,” she remembers.
“No bread, no sugar. You really start having to think about those things because being on camera, you have a responsibility to look good. And if you don’t, you’ll hear about it.”
Lopez is continuing her don’t-call-it-a-comeback comeback with a new album entitled Love? set to be released this summer. It’s been a tough road for Love? after Lopez parted ways with Epic Records and signed with Def Jam Records.
“They’ve heard what I’ve been working on already, everybody’s very happy with it. We just need to finish it,” she says.
