Lopez'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.
Having redefined Lopez's sound with "I'm Real (Murder Remix)", Epic decided to release further remixes in order to "keep the momentum going". A remix album entitled J to tha L–O! The Remixes was subsequently released on February 5, 2002. It debuted at the summit of the Billboard 200, making it the first remix album to do so. Its lead single, "Ain't It Funny (Murder Remix)", featuring Ja Rule and Caddillac Tah, reached number one in the US. J to tha L–O! The Remixes became one of the best-selling remix albums of all time, selling 1.5 million copies in the US. It produced two more singles: "I'm Gonna Be Alright" and "Alive", a ballad co-written by her husband at the time, Cris Judd. In April 2002, Lopez opened her restaurant, Madrè's. The following month, she starred in the thriller film Enough, which was described by the Boston Herald as a "kick-but, female empowerment" film. While filming Enough, which required an overworked Lopez to practice Krav Maga, she suffered a nervous breakdown. She recalled feeling "sick and weird", refusing therapeutic help or medication. She confessed, "I was like – I don't want to move, I don't want to talk, I don't want to do anything." In September, she released her first fragrance, Glow by JLo. It performed strongly despite predictions that it would fail, and became the top-selling fragrance in the US.
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 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 InfoThe visual effects were by Moving Picture Company, Method Studios, Mr. X, Weta Digital, Brainstorm Digital, and Capital T, and supervised by Allen Maris, Christopher Downs, Guillaume Rocheron, Ryan Tudhope, Aidan Fraser, Olaf Wendt, Anders Langlands, Eran Dinur, Jamie Hallett, and Territory Studio. Max Richter composed the film's score, with Lorne Balfe later writing additional music. James Gray consulted with experimental film scholars Gregory Zinman and Leo Goldsmith for inspiration on the visuals.
More InfoAfter starring in Gigli (2003), a critical and commercial failure, Lopez subsequently starred in the successful romantic comedies Shall We Dance? (2004) and Monster-in-Law (2005). Her fifth studio album, Como Ama una Mujer (2007), received the highest first-week sales for a debut Spanish album in the United States. Following an unsuccessful period, she returned to prominence in 2011 with her appearance as a judge on American Idol, and released her seventh studio album Love?. From 2016 to 2018, she starred in the crime drama series Shades of Blue and performed a residency show, Jennifer Lopez: All I Have, at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas. Since 2017, Lopez has produced and served as a judge on World of Dance. In 2019, she garnered critical acclaim for her performance as a stripper in the crime drama Hustlers.
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