I sleep alone a lot. I spend a lot of time alone, preparing what I'm doing, writing and researching my characters. And then on the set, I spend it alone. And then I go home and I'm alone." --- Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez was first thrust into the spotlight when she won out in a nationwide search for an actress to play the lead role in Selena, director Gregory Nava's biopic about the slain Tejano singer.The film made a respectable showing at the box office, and Lopez's uncanny portrayal of the singer won her critical raves (she scored a Golden Globe Best Actress nomination) and a reported $1 million salary, a paycheck that made her the highest-paid Latina actress in history.

Although Lopez's rise to stardom seemed to happen overnight, in truth, the actress had earned her place at the top by consistently plying her exceptional talent. Lopez always knew she wanted to be a performer. She started her showbiz career as a dancer in stage musicals — most notably in a European tour of Golden Musicals of Broadway and in a Japanese tour of Synchronicity — and in various music videos.

But it was when she won a national competition of about two thousand contestants vying to become one of choreographer Rosie Perez's "fly girl" dancers on Fox's In Living Color that Lopez finally cracked into Hollywood. Lopez was named one of People magazine's Fifty Most Beautiful People for 1997, and has been voted FHM's most beautiful woman for two years in a row (2000 and 2003). And thank god she dumped that Puffy guy!