FLY GIRL BOARDS 'MONEY TRAIN'
Friday, November 17th 1995, 4:01AM
THE SIMILARITIES ARE there they're both Puerto Rican actresses, both New York-bred, both been "The Girl" in a Wesley Snipes/Woody Harrelson big-budget buddy action flick.
But do not confuse Jennifer Lopez with Rosie Perez. For one, the pitch of Lopez' voice doesn't set off car alarms. And Lopez, who plays a transit cop and object of Wesley's & Woody's desires in "Money Train," opening Wednesday, is a lower-keyed actress whose career is just beginning to blossom.
"I don't like to make comparisons. We're both so different," says Lopez of Perez, who co-starred with Snipes and Harrelson in "White Men Can't Jump," in 1992. "She [Perez] has carved out her own section and she's great at it."
With a high-profile part in "Money Train" and a starring role opposite Robin Williams (in "Jack," currently being filmed), Lopez is looking to carve her own Hollywood niche. Her only other role of note came early this year, playing the Mexican matriarch of "Mi Familia/My Family" as a young woman.
The exposure helped Lopez land "Money Train," even though the relative unknown had to go through an arduous audition process.
"The producers were hoping to get a 'name' of some sort, but it didn't work out," says Lopez, who read six times. "But the character was kind of written like me."
Which would be young, tough, sexy and Latina. Lopez, from the Castle Hill section of the Bronx, was a "Fly Girl" hip-hop dancer on Fox' "In Living Color" (Rosie Perez was choreographer). Lopez also had bit roles on such short-lived TV dramas as "Malibu Road" and "South Central."
While her characters so far have all been Latina, Lopez says the important thing is "to be considered for the work I do. It doesn't matter if I'm Latina I'm proud that I am and everybody knows I am. But when a part simply calls for 'a woman' with interesting problems and such, I'd like my name to be on that list."
