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Only in Hollywood : The roles JLo and Marc Anthony play

By Ruben V. Nepales
LA Correspondent
Inquirer

Posted date: November 09, 2007

Several weeks later, we learned that nature has indeed taken its course. To this day, Jennifer has not officially confirmed her pregnancy. But media stories, backed by photos showing a bump in the singer-actress' tummy, have reported that she and Marc will be blessed with a baby several months from now.

Talk about timing. It is almost hard to believe but all these years, the singer-actress never had a concert tour. Just when she got pregnant, Jennifer embarked on her first show tour ever. Earlier reports about the first stops of Jennifer's concert with Marc made it seem like she hardly moved onstage due to her condition.

When we caught the LA edition of the tour, we were surprised at how lively she was. J Lo was definitely not the hyper "fly girl" (from her "In Living Color" TV back-up dancer days) she might have been onstage, if she was not expecting. But she did not act like a statue either.

Classic ballad

In the Staples Center show, Marc replaced "You Sang to Me" with Journey's "Faithfully." Explaining that one of the things he loves about the tour is that he can change a part of his repertoire in each stop, Marc dedicated Journey's classic ballad to his wife and then sang it with fervor. These lyrics may explain why Marc chose to croon this song instead: "They said that the road ain't no place to start a family…"

We were prepared to be bored but the superstar couple of pop put on an engaging show. Marc came in first and regaled the full house with his easy grace onstage, singing bouncy, infectious salsa tunes and passionate ballads.

Maiden tour

What charmed us about Jennifer was that she seemed to be genuinely enjoying performing in her maiden concert tour. She giggled and talked about the joy of singing and hearing the crowd's applause. Toward the end of her set, Marc joined his wife for the much-waited duet, "Por Arriesgarnos."

Looking back, Jennifer was probably in her first days or weeks of pregnancy when we interviewed her. Most of the reporters noticed even then how she had that extra glow.

The press con was for the couple's first film together, "El Cantante," a biopic of Puerto Rican salsa pioneer Hector Lavoe (Marc) which follows his tempestuous relationship with his wife, Puchi (Jennifer) and his rise to fame, which was marred by drugs and personal pain.

Marc said of their roles: "Two dysfunctional characters living with this pain and outside influences - that was so different from our reality. I remember turning to Jennifer on the ride home (from filming) one time and I was like, 'God, we're so normal.' That's the impact it had on me. You just feel truly blessed. So we weren't afraid to go to those places and think that we're going to get stuck there."

Kids in her life

Before Jennifer was asked the question in which she gave the let-nature-take-its-course answer, a reporter inquired about the kids in her life.

"I love the children I have in my life," she said. "I obviously have Marc's kids (two with 1993 Miss Universe Dayanara Torres and one with New York City police officer Debbie Rosado) - my stepchildren - and I have my niece and nephew. It's funny when you start acting like the adult (laughter). It's like, OK, I am now that person. That's weird to me because we were always the kids in the family. You ask, when did you become the adult? But it's very exciting for me. I really enjoy it. I've always been the maternal type. All the people who work for me call me Ma. I take care of everybody, I guess. That's why."

After our separate interview with Marc, we completely understood why Jennifer fell for him. He was funny yet profound, down-to-earth and articulate. Of the tattoo that says "Jennifer" on his right wrist, he quipped, "She branded me after we got married. She wouldn't have it any other way. It's called being married: 'This is what you're going to do. I want to see it every day.'"

Lean frame

He himself poked fun at his notoriously lean frame. "They wanted me to gain 20 pounds for the movie and I couldn't," he said. "My mother has been trying to get me to gain weight for the past 30 years and it just won't happen."

He added, "I have a love-hate relationship with food. We have been arguing for years (laughter). My dad weighs only 97 pounds. He's smaller than me. My sister is 93 pounds. I'm the heaviest one at 115 (laughter). In my world, I'm huge. You have to understand what it is like to be Puerto Rican (and thin) and show up at gatherings - it's just painful. My mother and all my aunts have been trying to feed me since I was born. Everybody vows to fatten me up."

The Spanish and English pop star also made light of being the Menudo member in the background while Ricky Martin was at the forefront: "I worked with Menudo when I was 15, 16 years old. Let me tell you something. I wasn't the cute one (laughter). So what I did was behind the scenes. I was the kid that they would put literally at the back of an 18-wheeler and I had like six microphones. People thought they were singing. I was the one singing the background vocals. I was always the utility man. I don't have any issues about that, though."

He revealed that you won't hear his music in the houses they own: "I don't play my own music in the house because I know myself. If I had the opportunity to listen to my earlier works, I'd want to change them. I'd say, 'Oh, if I could change that note…' I'd spend my day just hyper-analyzing my performances. But I do listen to other music, mostly from the 1940s. I love painting and photography. I'm also a pilot. I have been doing this (music career) for 28 years now. But I have other interests."

Below are he-said, she-said excerpts:

Marc (M): It was very clear that Jennifer was my boss from the second I met her (laughter).

Jennifer (J): He's funny. He's really the boss. Maybe on this movie, technically I was his boss because I was one of the producers. But he still did whatever he wanted. No - he was great.

M: Jennifer is like an enigma. It's something you don't quite understand. I am positive that I could be with Jennifer for the rest of my life and not know her entirely. She fascinates me on so many levels. She grew up in front of the world. But she is just a little girl. She really is and yet she accomplished so much.

J: I guess I am just a little girl. I know people don't see me that way but I guess he gets to see a different side of me (laughing).

M: When you find yourself in a healthy situation and it's fruitful on a daily basis, and you look forward to waking up, that's how she helps me. She's not afraid to be a wife - to be caring, stern and strong. Before I go out on stage in Madison Square Garden, she's like, "You have to fix him up." It's like I'm her son in a way.

J: The best relationship is when you're with somebody who helps you become a better person. Marc and I do that for each other. We can honestly say that since we've been together, we're better people.

M: I have never met Jennifer before and she comes visiting while I'm doing "The Capeman" (Paul Simon's musical in which Marc made his Broadway debut). She took her dad to see me on Broadway. It was Father's Day. She walked through the door. I was positive she could float. She was something like out of this world to me.

She had been following me around for years. I did not know that. She had gone to my shows, my concerts and when I played in clubs, she was always there but I'd never met her. She was a fan. Anyway, I looked at her and I told her, "This is going to sound really weird but you're my wife. You're my wife and you don't even know it." She was like, "This is weird, you freak (laughter). This is a little too intense for me. I just wanted to stop and say hi."

Moment of clarity

But there was just this moment of clarity. It was the clearest thing I've ever known. We became really good friends and worked together early on. I always had so much respect for her. Just true, honest, genuine respect.

J: Basically, he's right. I met him at "The Capeman." I was a fan of his. I took my dad there for Father's Day. They asked me if I wanted to go backstage. We met Marc and immediately, he was talking to me. He said, "You're my wife and you don't even know it" or something like that. I was like, "OK (laughing)." This was like 10, 11 years ago. We became friends from there.

One of the things about us is that he's one of the few people who can really make me laugh. I'm not an easy audience. I like to giggle but to make me really laugh, like belly laugh, is a whole other thing. He is very funny and charming. He was always that friend, even when we weren't together. We found our way back to each other. We both lived kind of crazy lives for a time. We went in very different directions. But eventually, we got together again.

E-mail the columnist at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com and read his blog, "The Nepales Report," on www.inquirerbloggers.net/nepalesreport.