Her father is a computer operations manager, and her mother, a kindergarten teacher. As a child, Jennifer always wanted to be a performer, and she started her career by appearing in the chorus of Hinton Battle's "Synchronicity" musical in Japan. She then appeared in "Golden Musicals of Broadway" on a European tour, and later regional productions of "Oklahoma" and "Jesus Christ Superstar".

Jennifer graduated in 1987 from Preston High School, and she enrolled at Baruch College in New York City, but dropped out after one semester. Later, when she read about a scholarship to a dance school in Manhattan, she jumped at the opportunity. Jennifer then landed a role dancing as one of "The Fly Girls" on a production of "In Living Color". She was still living in New York and had to move to LA for the role, but the show's producer Keenan Ivory Wayans advised her she would have more money and more experience if she stuck with the show.

While Jennifer was working on "In Living Color", one of her coworkers husbands was writing and producing Fox's "South Central", and she suggested Jennifer for a part. Jennifer got the recurring role on the show as Lucy, who worked in the co-op market. While the show was short lived, it helped Jennifer get some recognition, and work in two more, but short lived series.

Subsequently, she gained ground in her next film, "The Money Train", with Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. Jennifer's next role as Selena, would launch her into the public eye, with her dancing and vocal talent. This led to Jennifer being picked as one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People. A few more major roles followed with the modern film "Blood and Wine" and "U-Turn", which secured her star status.

In 1998, Jennifer proved that she could hold her own against a powerful leading man when she starred opposite George Clooney in "Out of Sight". Jennifer is the only Latin actress in history to demand a $1 million salary. When she released her album entitled "On the 6", the album was so well received that it bumped Ricky Martin from the top of the charts.

Jennifer often receives more attention for two things, her behind, and her relationship with controversial Sean "Puffy" Combs. In 1999 she had her body insured for $1 billion, and had her rear protected with a $300 million policy. During a romance with the artist Puff Daddy, Jennifer put out her next album, "J-Lo", which also seems to be successful. Puff Daddy had input with some of the songs on the album, but he and Jennifer have now gone their separate ways.