“We deal with some tough issues on the show,
so the women need to be strong,” she said.
Photo credit for both: Peter Kramer, NBC
“When I first went to NBC with Shades, it was
just as a producer. I wasn’t planning to act in it,”
she said. “But I started thinking about the main
character, Harlee Santos, and how I really identify
with the world she comes from because I grew up
in the Bronx. I knew I wouldn’t find a character
this good in a movie, so I wanted to explore it
and not worry about how to fit it all in with Idol
and my residency show in Vegas at the same time.”
The hour-long police drama airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. and
improved the network’s troubled time slot so quickly that the
show was recently renewed for a second season. Playing a
conflicted cop who is forced to choose between betraying her
crooked co-workers or protecting her daughter, Lopez said the
show’s constant plot twists and complex characters make it tough
to distinguish between the good guys and the bad guys.
More importantly, as a producer, she is happy to be able
to help shape relevant storylines for women.
“We deal with some tough issues on the show, so the women
need to be strong,” she said. “And it’s good to see more diversity
on television now, especially on NBC. It’s not just about race,
but also about gender and all types of diversity.”
Toting a gun and wearing street clothes in Shades is a far cry from
Jennifer’s famous fashion statements and red carpet gowns she’s
rocked over the years. But longtime “J. Lo” fans marvel that the
seemingly ageless entertainer is as stunning today as she
was in her 20s and 30s when she inspired the creation
of Google Images with her memorable, plunging Versace
gown and danced, sang and acted her way to superstardom.
Fellow entertainers are just as amazed as spellbound fans
when J. Lo struts her stuff in five-inch heels, flaunts her toned
body in skin-tight cat suits, and shakes what her Mama gave
her with energetic zeal. When All I Have opened recently in Vegas,