It’s still morning when Jennifer Lopez breezes into The Four Seasons Hotel wearing a champagne satin Dior dress embellished with silver and pearls, revealing a well toned back and legs.  With her long brown highlighted hair falling softly below her shoulders, you realize that what you have here is an A-list star.  And she’s here to talk about a personal passion – no, not husband Marc Anthony, but her new film co-starring Anthony called, “El Cantante”.  Throughout her career, Lopez has expressed pride in her Puerto Rican heritage, even riding in New York City’s annual Puerto Rican parade.  Raised in the Bronx, Jenny on the Block, has successfully crossed over into mainstream audiences in every creative endeavor she has tried:  acting, singing, dancing, entrepreneur and producing, the latter of which she has done with “El Cantante”, a film spanning the 1960s to the 1980s that charts Hector Lavoe’s (Marc Anthony) rapid rise to success and fame as an artist who music combined Puerto Rican tradition with streetwise modernity which we now call “salsa”.  Anthony’s intensity and honesty is matched by that of Lopez who plays Hector Lavoe’s indomitable wife, Puchi.  In their first onscreen pairing, the real-life couple captures the complex dynamics of a relationship between two bright and flawed individuals who loved, battled and forgave one another for twenty years, until Lavoe’s death in 1993.  “El Cantante” translated, means “the singer” and Marc Anthony shows us that he can both take the reins in singing and acting, while Lopez proves to all why she is such a dynamo hyphenate. 

Q: Why did this have to be the first film for your production company?
I think, for Nurican productions and what we stand for, being a New York  Puerto Rican, I couldn’t have found a better story to start with.  But,  doing the story of Hector Lavoe’s salsa icon, musical icon in the Latino community, but also for me and what I do in my own life, it being music, a movie that  had music in it, it really, really fit all the things I’m passionate about.

Q: The wardrobe was outstanding and really showed the passage of time in the movie.  Did you have a lot of input in that?
Yes, It was very important to me. I had about 50 changes in the  movie. It was really insane.   Sometimes I would change four or five times a day.    We’d do the 60s, 70s, 80s, and then back in 2002.  It was really crazy, but it was a lot of fun.   But it was very
important to me that we marked the time and that you saw the growth that they went from — this relationship spanned 20 years. So, it was a big change in that time.

Q: Did you research fashion it at all?

Absolutely.  Well, we had an amazing costume designer, Sandra Hernandez.  She was like, `OK! Here’s our 60s! Let’s go!  And then we’d go in there and find the right thing for the character in the scene and just go from there. It was just great.   I mean, her attention to detail, even the little earrings.   It was like, `these are only 60s earrings; these are only 70s earrings’.  It was like crazy. The bags of shoes.   Everything.   The coats.    And also, very specific to that New York kind of scene that they were in at the  time
which was the salsa scene which was a whole different thing. It wasn’t just anybody in New York. You know what I mean?

Q: What do you remember about Hector Lavoe’s legacy and what he meant for Puerto
Rican culture?

I mean, for me, we grew up with the music. I mean, it was funny,  because just like when we did the movie `Selena’, I knew the music, I knew  about her, but I didn’t know about her.   Ya know what I mean? I wasn’t like following her. And it was the same thing with Hector.  I like kind of  grew up with the music and I was like, `Oh, I know this song - he did that  song?’  You know what I mean? It was just that kind of thing. It was like the soundtrack to your life.  Being Puerto Rican and living in New York and  growing up at that time, it was at all the parties.   Every birthday party, every Christmas.  That’s what it was.

Q: So, it was more like your Mowtown experience?
Yeah, kind of yeah. Definitely.  Fania Records was like that for the Latin artists. They were the label. They were the label at the time.   They created a specific sound, much like Motown did and changed musical history.

Q: Why do you think Hector’s story in particular needs to be told today?
For me he is like the quintessential artist. It’s like a real examination of what an artist is.   I mean, it’s somebody who is put on this earth,  has this like amazing talent, a personality that is funny that touches so many  people, but then again they have this deep, kind of
vulnerable side and they  are meant to suffer a certain amount of pain so they can put this into the  music or the painting or whatever it is that they do and it touches millions of  people and helps.  It helps them get through their lives.   And in a way, I see it as a sacrificial lamb.   To me, he was just growing up and doing what I do, too. It was such a kind of a study in what an artist is. He was just that. He was really that.  That is why he was put here on this earth for. It’s really sad. I mean he had a sad life if you look at it. And it’s funny because I met his daughter and she came down to the set with his grandson.  They were like this was not an easy life, ya know what I mean?  They feel things in a different way and he suffered in a different way. But if you listen to the lyrics,  some of the music and you listen  to the lamenting in some of the instruments, you know what I mean?   It’s like  I don’t know if he’d be able to do that if he hadn’t lived the life that he lived.  It would have been something different.  We  know that, but it was great to get that kind of look onscreen.

Q: What insight did you have into his wife? Why do you think she stuck around all those years with his drug use and womanizing?
I think they loved each other. I think at the end of the day, as much as they  were killing each other, they loved each other. I mean the door is right there.   We all know.   Everyone in this room knows.   You’ve all been in relationships. It’s like, twenty years, nobody can tell you to stay when you don’t want to stay. The way no one can force you to go if you don’t want to go.   It has to be something that comes from you. And I honestly believe, as much as they would be okay, they would be bad to each other, they would be good to each other, they would lift each other up. She’d pull him out.   He’d make her laugh.    They just really at the end of the day had a love for each other, because
either one of them could have walked out at any time and neither one of them did.

Q: You structured this movie around an interview she actually did.  Why did you decide  to do that and did you ever think of putting video of that interview in the end  credits?
Well, it’s funny, because we cannot find the actual video tape. I only had CDs of it that we had our hands on.   I went crazy trying to get these tapes, but for some reason we could not get our hands on them. She, over a year or two, talked to David Moldenado who is one of the producers on the film and brought me the script at the beginning and this other writer David and they recorded  everything.  They did video tape some, but they didn’t videotape a lot of it. And so, I don’t know what ever happened to those video tapes.    When Leon (director) came on to the project, and we talked and I was like, `okay’ I knew  he was the right director for this movie and for this time and this story.  He was like, I just think that we should start off this movie that way – he had just come from where Fania Records used to be.  He said we should start the movie and just tell it from Puchi’s point of view  through these interviews since this is a lot of the firsthand information we have.  And we’ll just start from there.  I would have loved to have had, it would  have actually have helped me and my character. (Laughs.) But I loved having the actual audiotapes. It really, really helped me with her sound and what made her  laugh and how she laughed. Different things.

Q: Did you shoot at the actual recording studios?
We shot at Fania records one day, but no, that recording studio was not the same studio.

Q: What are the advantages of working with your man?
Advantages? Well, the advantage is that you’re just very comfortable together.  Ya know what I mean? You don’t have to really put on any airs or anything like that. We could tell each other anything. We could push each other past the limits and know that everything was going to be okay at the end of the day.    So, in that sense it was very good. The disadvantages?   I have to say, it was a real blessing to be able to work with Marc.   You know, when I put him in  the movie five and a half years ago or wanted him to be in the movie, I never  thought that we’d be together at this time. Who knew that? But we were and that actually helped. I guess everything is destiny and fate and all that  kind of stuff.

Q: How comfortable were you in the age make up and there was ever talk of having another actress do a different age?
We never talked about another actress to do that different part. I figured we would just age me. It was never a discussion. And I felt weird  in it. It was strange to get aged up like that, but at the same time I loved  being that Puchi in the movie. I mean, I loved the rest of it too, but there  was something about being able to really think about everything that happened  and be that a that point in her life and kind of looking back on the glory  years that was really interesting. And I was able to use even my own thoughts about it.  In the examination that I had of the whole entire experience, I was lucky because I had her firsthand on tape. A lot of the stuff that I used in the film is stuff that she said almost exactly.   I  mean, I adlibbed a lot of the interview. There was a lot written that Leon wrote, but we shot it for two days straight, just me all day, all day both days.  And I was able   play around a lot. You see that Leon actually plays the interviewer – it’s his voice, so we would just kind of go back and forth to get into it.   We had fun with it.   It was really funny, because at the end of it I had a pain in my chest.  It was something about going through all that and reminiscing about it and everything and being so close to the project. It was the last two days of shooting in New York, so there was just something about it.  You just kind of felt her pain and I just remember having this pain in  my chest for the next two days. It was a heavy experience.

Q: There are a series of intense moments between you and Marc Anthony.  What  was most rewarding and most challenging about it all?
The whole thing was a very challenging role. These types of roles don’t come around every day. It’s like a Selana role.  To be able to play someone who really lived, it gives you an extra added pressure and responsibility because people really knew the person.  You don’t want people to say `that sucked; that was so not who she was.’  (Laughs.)   So, you have a real responsibility to come to the table with your game right.  I guess that was the hardest part, but also the best part of it,  because it gives you a challenge to really kind of dive in to.

Q: As a producer, can you talk about how hard it was to get the movie made and how it was received in Hollywood?
Yeah, I mean it was tough. Like I said, I had the script for five and a half  years. We had to first get the script right.   They bought us a script that I  knew needed work. And I wanted to find a director to kind of guide that, who had a real vision for the film. I met with a bunch of directors and that took some time.   And then finally, when I met with
Leon, I just didn’t interview anyone else, I was like, `he’s the guy; he’s definitely the guy.’  And once he got it he was like, `I’ll do the rewrite myself.’  And then he handled it and it took like a year, eight months.  Then from there, it was like `okay’; once we got his script, the notes we had for him were so minimal, because he really made it this kind of
tragic, intense  love story and we just loved it.   We just loved it.

Q: But was there much enthusiasm outside your circle?
It was tough. It was hard getting independent films made, but also somebody  that nobody knows. In the Latin community, he’s so well known.   For us it was like, `what do you mean you don’t know Hector Lavoe?’  I have to say, the people who financed it were very kind in just believing in us - `Do you love this? You want to do this? This is your passion?’  I was like, `yes, this is all I want to do’  It was like that type of blind belief. At the end of the day we just found somebody who just believed in me, my company and Marc and the whole idea that we were so passionate about this project.

Q: How difficult is it for you to balance making it informative and educational?
Yeah, I mean, one of the great joys of the movie is being able to kind of bring Hector and if you listen to the music, I think it just kind of  speaks for itself. Even for myself, while I was trying to get the movie made, sometimes I asked myself why am I pushing this boulder up a hill? God this is crazy!  And then I’d listen to the music or I’d go back and watch the performances of the Fania All-Stars and watch Hector just bring the crowd down.   This is why. It was an important time in musical history.   At the end of the day, it was really about his music he left behind and how it touched people.   And to this day, when you see Daddy Yankee or Fat Joe with a picture of Hector Lavoe on their chest, you’re like, Why?  Well, you know why now.   He was a tragic figure, but at the same time like a Billie Holiday or any one  f these great artists who leaves something behind, they touch a cord in the lives of humans in a way that is so hard to kind of pin down, but once you see his life, you understand.   I think what is great about the movie is that once you see his life you even understand the music more. So, even the joy you were getting out of it before, as a fan or not or just learning, you are going to get so much out of it just by knowing what his life was like.

Q: What do you think of Marc’s performance?

I feel like it was such a seamless performance.   I don’t even feel like you  see him acting.   It’s so crazy. He just isn’t acting.  Some old actor once said that `don’t let them see you doing it.’  Ya know what I mean?  And I really felt he just did, he just felt like he was Hector.   That’s it.  That was him.

Q: Do you still have an English language album coming out soon?

Yes. In a couple of weeks I have the first single coming out.   It’s called `Hold It, Don’t  Drop It.’  Yeah, I think we are doing a dual single too. I think we are doing another single with it called  `Do It Well’. 

Q: Have you shot a video for it yet?
Actually next week.   I’m shooting both of them.   Yeah, I’m gonna rest  after today. (Laughs.)   Take a couple of days off and then go to dance rehearsal.

Q: And then you have your tour?
Yeah, and then we’re gonna start getting ready for the tour. Yes, it’s an exciting time. It’s a really happy time to be in projects that we really love.

Q: Has Robert Rodriguez approached you about doing Barbarella?
No, is he making Barbarella?  Really? No, I hadn’t heard that.  Really? He’s gonna come to me? Really? Is that true? That would be fantastic. This is gonna be funny, because my video that I’m doing, we are gonna do a Barbarella thing in it. That’s really strange.  Isn’t that weird?