January 2015 saw the release of The Boy Next Door, an erotic thriller that Lopez both co-produced and starred in as a high school teacher who becomes involved with a student, which eventually leads to his dangerous obsession with her. The film received negative reviews from critics. Despite this, it became her most successful opening at the box office for a live action film since Monster-in-Law, and ultimately grossed over $53 million at the global box office, against a production budget of $4 million. Lopez had a voice role in the animated feature Home, alongside Steve Martin, Jim Parsons, and Rihanna, and released in March 2015. She contributed the single "Feel the Light" to the film's official soundtrack. Lopez also starred in the independent drama film Lila & Eve, alongside Viola Davis. With annual earnings of $28.5 million, she was ranked as the seventh highest-paid woman in music for 2015.
In September 2007, Lopez starred in the biographical film El Cantante, which is based on the life of the late salsa singer Héctor Lavoe. In the film, Lavoe is portrayed by then-husband Marc Anthony while Lopez plays Lavoe's wife Puchi. Lopez revealed that she felt her performance in the film El Cantante should have earned her an Oscar. "I feel like I had that [Oscar worthy role] in 'El Cantante,' but I don't think the academy members saw it". El Cantante did not perform well at the box office, earning just $7.6 million. Lopez performed the song "Toma de Mí" for the film's soundtrack. Lopez and Anthony also launched their co-headlining North American concert tour on September 28. Lopez's sixth studio album Brave, released in October, was her lowest-charting album worldwide. The album produced two singles, "Do It Well" and "Hold It Don't Drop It". The first peaked at number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, while the latter failed to make any significant impact on the charts. A five-part miniseries, Jennifer Lopez Presents: Como Ama una Mujer, based on the lyrics of Como Ama una Mujer aired on Univision from October 30 to November 27, 2007. She placed her career on hiatus after giving birth to twins in February 2008. In late 2009, Lopez released two songs for her seventh studio album, Love? ("Louboutins" and "Fresh Out of the Oven"); however, the songs failed to make an appearance on the Billboard charts which led to her departure from Epic Records.
More InfoLopez's third studio album, This Is Me... Then, was released on November 25, 2002. It was dedicated to actor Ben Affleck, her fiancé at the time. The album's lead single "Jenny from the Block", was later described by Sam Lansky of MTV News as her most iconic single. In the song, Lopez "intones her modest childhood roots". The album itself performed strongly, selling 2.6 million copies in the US. Its second single, "All I Have", peaked at number one in the US. That December, Lopez starred opposite Ralph Fiennes in the romantic comedy Maid in Manhattan, which became the highest-grossing film of her career.
More InfoAfter placing her career on hiatus, Lopez released her fourth studio album, Rebirth, in February 2005. According to Lopez, Rebirth "came about because I was on such a roller-coaster ride, that was my career from my first album to my last album, and I did a bunch of movie projects in between. I finally took some time just for myself, and [when] I came back, this was the first project I did. I felt like it was a new beginning for me, like I was, in a way, reborn." Tracy Hopkins of NBC's Today Music noted that after "fawning" over Affleck on This Is Me... Then", Lopez "wisely keeps her love life out of the spotlight" on Rebirth and only references her relationship with singer/actor Marc Anthony on a few tracks. The album produced the single "Get Right", which peaked at number one in the United Kingdom. In May, she starred alongside Jane Fonda in the romantic comedy Monster-in-Law, for which she received a salary of $15 million. The film's marketing played up Lopez's "Gigli-and-tabloid tarnished image", and it became a box office success. In August, Lopez starred alongside Robert Redford and Morgan Freeman in An Unfinished Life, a drama film based on the novel of the same name.
More InfoL'Oréal Paris named Lopez their new Global Ambassador and the face of their brands, including EverPure hair care, Preference hair color and Youth Code skin care. Her EverSleek hair care ads made their debut in early 2011, to coincide with the release of Love? and her debut as a judge on American Idol. To further promote her comeback, in February, Venus chose Lopez as their new Global Ambassador. Lopez's comeback single "On the Floor" was released later that same month. The song topped the charts across the globe, becoming one of the most successful singles of the year. The song also became her highest charting single commercially as a lead artist, as well as her most successful airplay hit on contemporary hit radio, since "Jenny from the Block". Love?, which was released in May, was a moderate commercial success, and was viewed as a humble comeback from Lopez, as many had considered her recording career over. Lopez launched her next fragrance Love and Light in July, exclusively on HSN. 51,000 bottles of the fragrance were sold at its premiere, becoming Lopez's most successful fragrance launch to date, making over $2.9 million. In September, Lopez launched the Jennifer Lopez Collection, a clothing and accessories line for Kohl's with Tommy Hilfiger. In addition to the clothing line, she also launched the Jennifer Lopez Home Collection, featuring bedding, towels and luggage. Later that same month Fiat, an Italian automobile manufacturer, enlisted Lopez to promote their products, including the 2012 Fiat 500 Cabrio. Olivier Francois, the Chrysler chief marketing officer, stated that she "fits perfectly with the brand".
More InfoDuring the process of recording her second album, Lopez decided to tweak her image as she began to develop into a sex symbol. She started going by J.Lo, something fans often called her in the years after director Oliver Stone coined the term on the set of the 1997 film U Turn. She subsequently named the album J.Lo. Released on January 23, 2001, it was a commercial success, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200. During the same week, her romantic comedy film The Wedding Planner in which she starred opposite Matthew McConaughey opened atop the box office. This made her the first woman to have a number one film and album simultaneously in the United States. The album was preceded by the release of its lead single, "Love Don't Cost a Thing", which reached number one on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart. It was followed by the single "Play". In April 2001, Lopez launched J.Lo by Jennifer Lopez, her own clothing and accessory company. Lopez felt that "the voluptuous woman [was] almost ignored" in the fashion industry, and therefore her company specialized in clothing women of all shapes. The following month, she starred in the romantic drama film Angel Eyes, which performed disappointingly at the box office and generated mixed reviews. After several months, J.Lo was declining on the charts; this prompted Mottola to recruit rapper Ja Rule to create an urban-oriented remix of the song "I'm Real". This led to the release of "I'm Real (Murder Remix)", which quickly reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Its success resulted in J.Lo being reissued to include the single, which was number one in the United States during the week of the September 11 attacks. J.Lo became the best-selling album of Lopez's career, having sold 3.8 million copies in the US and moved over 12 million units worldwide.
More InfoWe don't show ads. Help us keep it that way.