The power of mum

The light of day was breaking in lower Manhattan and Jennifer Lopez was preparing to shoot a scene for her new romantic comedy, The Back-Up Plan.

Director Alan Poul was about to yell "action" when in the distance the clicking sound of hundreds of lenses disturbed the set.

Word had leaked that Lopez was there, with a swarm of paparazzi wanting a highly valuable shot of the singer, actor and style icon.

The film's assistant directors asked the paparazzi to move. Ditto the New York City Police Department.

Then Lopez came up with the solution. "Jennifer walked over to the photographers andsaid, 'Hey guys, I'll give you two minutes to get whatever you want and then, please, if you could move, that would be great,"' Poul says. "She was literally able to part the Red Sea in a way the New York Police Department couldn'tdo."

"It was pretty simple," Lopez says, recalling the incident. "I basically said: 'Take your pictures then let me do my job."'

Today, the stunning 40-year-old is wearing a fitted dusty pink shift dress and taupe Gucci heels, with three-carat diamond-stud earrings that sparkle tremendously as her head moves.

Her long hair is in big barrel curls, the type that would make any Miss Universe proud. Glamour with a capital G.

Ask her the name of the designer she's wearing, though, and she's not sure.

"Well," she says, "let me see if I can ..." And with that, she takes her right hand, twists her head and tries to see a label on the inside back – but no luck. "I'm sorry. I just put it on because I thought it was pretty," she says.

Content and at ease, it's clear being the mother of two-year-old twins Max and Emme has had a profound effect on her. "I am in a good place, definitely," she says, smiling. "Do you know what Max said to me this morning?" Lopez gushes. "At breakfast he said, 'Look mummy, I'm eating my huevitos [Spanish for eggs]."

Her children speak Spanish and English.

Having children was something Lopez always knew she wanted in her life – it was just a matter of timing.

"I didn't really think about it when I was younger," she says. " I was very career-oriented. I had a dream, so there was something else I wanted to do."

When she married singer Marc Anthony six years ago, her focus shifted. It was the third marriage for Lopez. She was previously married to waiter Ojani Noa for a year and dancer Chris Judd for 14 months.

She also had a 2-year relationship with hip-hop mogul Sean Combs and almost wed actor Ben Affleck but the nuptials were called off abruptly just hours before the ceremony.

When talk turns to her love life, Lopez smiles.

"Hmm, I've been married three times haven't I?" she says. "I guess I'm pretty unconventional in that sense. But then again, I guess it's also not that unusual in this day and age, which is pretty crazy, too."

Where Lopez is completely conventional is at home. "I'm very traditional," she says. "My babies eat a lot of vegetables, which I'm very proud of because I wasn't raised to eat any. I still have to force myself to eat them because I don't like them.

"I always said when I have kids, I'm going to teach them to eat healthier things. You just want them to be perfect. They eat a lot of traditional Puerto Rican food, too."

Since becoming a mother, Lopez is in the best shape of her life but admits it takes plenty of work. The star took part in the Malibu triathlon before her twins turned one.

"I've definitely had to watch what I eat more," Lopez says. "After you have babies, you just have to. Your body changes a little bit."

At home in either Los Angeles or New York, Lopez isn't one to roam around in tracksuit pants. "When I'm at home, I wear a lot of long dresses. I also wear a lotof leggings and turtlenecks – more classic. I like to feel nice."

Lopez grew up in the Bronx, New York, the daughter of Puerto Rican parents, Guadalupe Rodriguez, a kindergarten teacher, and David Lopez, a computer specialist.

At 19, Lopez was driven to succeed, working in a legal office by day and attending dance classes at night. She got her first big break in 1990 as a dancer on the TV show In Living Color and later became a back-up dancer for Janet Jackson. (She can be spotted in the video for That's the Way Love Goes.)

Her big break came with her role as a Mexican-American singer in the film Selena – a role she still says "had such a profound impact on my life". Not only in terms of acting but in her own emergence as a music superstar.

These days Lopez likes to spend as much time as she can with her children during the day and then works from 7pm, after Max and Emme's bedtime.

"From seven until midnight, I'm like this," she says, as she taps her long curved nails on an imaginary keyboard. "That's when I really start my work day. I get tonnes of stuff done up until midnight, sometimes later."

The biggest surprise about motherhood for Lopez is the amount of time it takes to be a parent. "I'm surprised by how your time gets eaten up, you know what I mean?" she laughs. "Your priorities change, for sure, but not my drive. Those babies, their health and happiness comes first. That's just how it is and everything else has to fit in around that."

In The Back-Up Plan, Lopez plays a single woman who gets pregnant via in-vitro fertilisation and Lopez is quick to add it's a brave decision but one she couldn't contemplate.

"I couldn't even imagine being a single mum," she says. "It's just so hard. My sister is a single mum and it's brutal."

Combining work with family is tough, Lopez says, but it's a change in her life she is immensely grateful for.

"I'm doing as much now if not more, so it's a challenge," she says. "It really is. It's very different than when you're on your own. Havinga husband and kids is a totally different ball game."

Not that she would have it any other way.

"At the end of the day, I've had a lot of commercial success, some critical success and I feel very fortunate for the career I've had, but I still want to work hard and accomplish more. I don't think that dream ever goes away. Maybe when the kids are older, I'll be like, 'You know what? Maybe I should just sit still for a while."'

Lopez pauses, thinking about what she has just said, then winks. "Nah," she laughs.

The Back-Up Plan will be released on May 20.