J-Lo gets seriously broody

Indeed, it's been widely remarked how Anthony - who comes from the same Puerto-Rican New York background as J-Lo - is having a calming effect on his wife since their wedding last June.

DESPITE the fact he's relatively unknown in Hollywood and Britain, he's huge in the Hispanic world as the best-selling salsa artist of all time, with a £20 million fortune.

The couple have known each other for several years, having met when J-Lo appeared in one of his videos. They dated in 1999 but split up and moved on to other partners.

Movie commentators and friends alike have noticed that J-Lo is no longer a regular on the party circuit, preferring quiet evenings at home with her husband. And she's replaced her love of skimpy clothes and massive diamonds with high necklines and knee-length skirts.

The day we meet, J-Lo is wearing old clothes: her striped cream, beige and rust trousers are six years old and her YSL shoes are four years old.

She says she cut her hair for her role in Border Town, but admits it's also part of a deeper change.

'Cutting my hair might be an outward statement of something going on inside,' she says. 'I've always had long hair so it was a big deal for me to cut it.'

She admits to being emotional about it - but laughs at herself: 'I'm always passionate about anything I do. I could have managed with a wig but I cut it on purpose.

'It was partly because of Border Town. I play a reporter looking into thousands of women who are missing in the lawless borders of Mexico, where so many factories operate with cheap labour.'

For J-Lo, the film is also about rediscovering her Latin roots - something that has become an important part of her life since she married 35-year-old Anthony.

J-Lo and her two sisters were raised in the Bronx, where aspirations are often low. But the Lopez family was different.

Their parents, David, a computer technician, and Guadalupe, a kindergarten teacher, were not well off but they had self-belief and a strong work ethic.

David would often work through the night to support his family. Guadalupe instilled in her talented daughter the confidence to believe she could do anything with her life.

As the star said in a recent interview: 'My strength and confidence comes from my upbringing and family. I was encouraged to be an independent person. My mother said I

could do anything with my life. I could even be President of the United States, if I wanted to.'

In her husband, J-Lo has found a kindred spirit to her adored father.

'My dad is the only person who has given me unconditional love. When I recognised Marc is similar, I knew that kind of love only because of my father.'

After more than a few false starts, she says Anthony is 'the right one'. Which is why she is thinking about babies.

She said recently: 'I have always wanted babies, but something has held me back. Now, there is no reason not to start a family.

'I have found the right man at last. We have known each other for years. We were friends. But sometimes, when the right person is staring you in the face, you don't know. I had also lost a bit of confidence in my choices. But I never said never to another marriage - and this time, it is the right one.' J-Lo, as she herself puts it, has been rather a 'bad picker' of men in the past. Her first marriage to Ojani Noa, a waiter, in 1997, lasted little more than a year.

A volatile two-year relationship with rap star Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs, collapsed in February 2001.

The proverbial shoulder to cry on was Cris Judd, one of her back-up dancers. In September 2001, six months after they got together, they were married. This marriage was even briefer than her first one, and was over within nine months.

But it was her tumultuous 18-month affair with actor Ben Affleck that was perhaps the most highprofileof J-Lo's relationships, marked as it was by lavish spending sprees - she gave him a $160,000 Aston Martin - rapturous declarations of love and tearful bust-ups. They made a film together, Gigli, which was universally panned. Affleck presented her with a 6.1 carat pink diamond engagement ring.

In August 2003, the world awaited possibly the most extravagant wedding in Hollywood history, but just three days before the ceremony was due to take place, they called it off.

The couple staggered on a little longer before J-Lo announced that it was all over. Six months later, she married

Marc Anthony.

So it is little wonder, then, that the singer - whose album, Rebirth, has sold £1.5 million copies worldwide - is determined that this marriage will last.

'I'm relaxed and I've found that I can have a personal life and a career if I'm careful not to be consumed with one or the other, which I always have been before,' she says. 'Now my personal life doesn't take the same kind of energy.'

Still, that sense of purpose instilled into her as a child in the Bronx has not gone.

HER latest film, the comedy Monster-in-Law, went on release in Britain last week. J-Lo plays a woman who clashes with her future motherinlaw (Jane Fonda), who wants to protect her son and get rid of his love interest.

J-Lo was endearingly overawed at working with the movie legend.

She said in a recent interview: 'She's an amazing spirit. I was so nervous that I just had to sit on the floor.

'I could not trust my legs because I was so anxious. I've seen all her movies and she has remained a top film star in our house.'

In one emotionally charged scene, the two women slap one another.

'Can you imagine what it was like slapping an icon like Jane? I was nervous about hitting her, but the director kept on saying: "Harder!" '

Film star and icon she may be, but when you strip away the glitter, J-Lo says her values are no different from any other woman.

Keen to dispel talk of being a diva, these days she's all talk about family. She insists what she really wants is a happy home life, a contented husband - and children.

J-Lo is a stepmother to Anthony's two young children from his marriage to former Miss Universe, Dayanara Torres. Has her new role increased her desire for a child of her own?

'I can't talk about his babies, I really can't. Let's just say I'm very happy with my entire situation.'

For my part, I hope Jennifer has found from her husband the unconditional love she had with her father because she's certainly a person who can give that love back.

I've seen them together. They do not gush or fuss. They seem calm and solid.

When I mention it is just as well she never had children with any of her other relationships, she smiles.

'I believe everything happens at the right time.'

She gives an enigmatic smile and she's off in search of a sandwich.