Forget J.Lo — Jennifer Lopez has been reborn

Miki Turner Entertainment writer

LOS ANGELES - This was the plan. Go to the Four Seasons, chat with J.Lo about her new movie. If that blah, blah, blah conversation went well then perhaps sneak in a few questions about all those ongoing pregnancy rumors; ask what advice she might have for the Hollywood Four — Paris, Nicole, Britney and Li-Lo — and if she’s gotten over the shame of “Gigli”; have her share some tips on how to keep your man happy and then find out whether she’s still friendly with all of her high-profile ex’s — Ben and Diddy.

Well, that plan flew out of a 14^th floor window when it became apparent that J.Lo, a woman known for her revealing outfits, forgettable films and pop hits had died and we all had somehow missed her funeral.

It was Jennifer Lopez, looking stunning in a winter white silk Dior cocktail dress accented by diamond drop earrings and a few sparkling bangles around her wrists that entered the room with the enthusiasm of a kid who just passed her final exams. And from the moment she started talking about “El Cantante,” a film about the life and legacy of salsa icon Héctor Lavoe that hits theaters on Friday, all that J.Lo stuff became so very 20 minutes ago.

“El Cantante” is that baby everyone has been waiting for her to have.

Lopez, 38, who acquired the project just over five years ago, is unabashedly proud that she’s been able to bring this story to the screen for several reasons. One, not many people outside of the Latino community are familiar with Lavoe, one of the pioneers of the salsa sound that redefined Latin music in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Two, she hired Marc Anthony, years before they hooked up and married, to play the lead. And three, Lavoe and his music was to Lopez what Motown was to urban America back in the day.

It was the soundtrack of her formative years.

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

‘He’s like the quintessential artist’
The passion Lopez has for this project is infectious. The fast-talking Bronx native has become like a walking, talking, Wikipedia on Lavoe and his wife Puchi, who she portrays in the film. According to Lopez, the Puerto Rican-born singer who struggled through drug addiction, infidelity, depression, an often combative relationship with Puchi and the loss of his beloved son before dying of AIDS at age 46 in 1993 was the definitive entertainer of his generation.

Slide show Making of a superstar From Fly Girl to international celebrity, Jennifer Lopez's rise to fame -- and her search for love -- has made her a global phenomenon. more photos

“For me, he’s like the quintessential artist,” she said. “It’s like a real examination of what an artist is. It’s somebody who was put on this earth, has like this amazing talent — a personality who is funny, who touches so many people. But then again, they have this deep, kind of vulnerable side and they’re meant to suffer a certain amount of pain so that they can put this into the music or the painting of whatever it is that they do and it touches millions of people. It helps them get through their lives.”

This is the first film for Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions and as a New York-born Puerto Rican, the award-winning actress who made her film debut in “Selena,” said she couldn’t imagine a better story to start off with. Lopez, using actual audio recordings of Puchi Lavoe, tells the story from her perspective.  The tapes were made shortly before Puchi fell backwards out of a window in 2002 and died.

It was, however, a tough sell.

“It’s tough getting independent films made, but also with somebody that nobody knows,” she said. “In the Latin community he’s so well known. For us it was like, ‘What do you mean you don’t know Héctor Lavoe?’ But at the end of the day we found somebody who believed in me, my company and Marc and the whole idea that we were so passionate about it.”

And whenever the former “In Living Color” Fly Girl felt like she was pushing a boulder uphill, Lopez would listen to Lavoe’s music or watch one of his videos. “At the end of the day it was really about the music that he left behind. He touched people. To this day when you see Daddy Yankee or Fat Joe with a picture of Héctor Lavoe on their chest, you’re like, why? Well, you know why now. He was a tragic figure, but at the same time he was like a Billie Holiday or any one of these great artists who leave something behind. They touch a chord in the lives of humans in a way that’s so hard to kind of pin down. I think what’s so great about the movie is that once you see his life you’ll enjoy the music even more.”

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