HOLLYWOOD -- When she was a starry-eyed girl growing up in the Bronx, Jennifer Lopez wanted it all.

She wanted fame, fortune and celebrity.

She wanted to sing, dance and act, and to have the eyes of the world on her.

It was one of those preposterous little girl dreams that has actually come true.

With the romantic comedy The Wedding Planner, which opens Friday, Lopez's US$9-million salary made her the highest-paid Hispanic woman in the history of film.

Her 1999 debut album On The 6 has sold more than seven million copies, yielding three hit singles, and she is poised to release her follow-up album, J.Lo, on Tuesday.

She has kept her name and her ample figure on the cover of magazines and newspapers since the fall of 1996, when she starred in the bio-pic, Selena.

At the same time the film came out, she announced her marriage to Ojani Noa, an aspiring model and bartender she'd met at the wrap party months earlier for Selena.

Within a year, the couple married, separated and divorced, and not long afterwards, Lopez began her high-profile romance with rap mogul Sean "Puffy" Combs.

From the almost-dress she wore to the 2000 Grammy Awards to the limousine dash from a shootout at a New York nightclub last December, Lopez has made her private life a public affair.

"If anyone can figure out how to balance my celebrity and my dual careers in music and film, it's me. I don't feel frightened or daunted. I feel challenged," Lopez insists.

First on her agenda is J.Lo, which she says is not only named for her fans but is also a homage to them.

"My fans call me J.Lo. Giving the album this title is my way of telling them that this is for them in appreciation of their support."

She says the songs on J.Lo are more personal than those on On The 6.

"The songs reflect a lot of what I've observed and witnessed my sisters and my girlfriends going through.

"The songs are about having a good time and not having a good time, or partying a lot and partying too much.

"Songs don't have to be specifically about me to be highly personal."

Lopez says Combs produced four of the tracks on the album.

"Those are the only four songs that are collaborations between Puff and me. He gives me my space to work with my producer and my vocal coach."

Lopez insists she has been completely vindicated by the success of On The 6 because it was not at the expense of her film career.

"I was able to make Out Of Sight, The Cell and The Wedding Planner at the same time I was producing and releasing an album.

"Many people warned that the album could have delayed the progress of my film career. They pointed out that juggling two careers has had a negative effect on several budding careers."

Lopez says she refused to be daunted by such a prospect because she knew she "had to get credibility in both worlds. It's organic and natural for me. I was trying to get a record deal long before I got into film."

Lopez has committed to film a thriller called Enough in March and then plans to tour for her album in late summer.

"I'm going to do my tour during the actors strike. That's half a joke," she adds quickly.

"I had always planned to tour with this album. It's planning my life so carefully that has allowed me to live it despite the chaos."

Lopez says this penchant for being in control is something she shares with her character in The Wedding Planner.

It's a fluffy romantic comedy in which she plays a San Francisco wedding planner who has no love life of her own until she falls in love with the groom (Matthew McConaughey) of one of her clients.

"When I signed on to star in The Wedding Planner, I hadn't met Puffy yet, so I was a lot like Mary who I play.

"I had put my life on hold for my career. The big difference between Mary and me is that I'm driven from something inside me that needs for me to have a life as well."

In The Wedding Planner when Mary literally bumps into Dr. Steve Edison, she knows he's the man for her.

"Of course, I believe in love at first sight.

"It happened to me with my first husband. It was real and it was intense. It just didn't last.

"Love at first sight is something that happens to both people simultaneously. It's like a lightning bolt."

Last year, Lopez was talking about getting married again soon, but she has put the brakes, at least temporarily, on that plan.

"I want to be married and I want to have kids, but you have to find the right balance in your life before that can happen.

"Right now, my life is so focused on my career that I wouldn't be able to give my husband and children as much of me as they deserve. They would feel cheated.

"I feel marriage and a family will happen for me organically, which means I have to let it happen naturally."

Much has been made of Lopez's status as a pop diva.

She travels with her entourage, demands and receives the perks afforded a star.

According to McConaughey, Lopez "has earned her status as a diva.

"It's one of my favourite things about Jennifer. Not many people can be a diva, even if they want to.

"Jennifer can. She is. She owns her divaness -- and what better place to own and flaunt it than in Hollywood."

The LOPEZ File

The Wedding Planner is Jennifer Lopez's first romantic comedy, and she says it's about time she starred in one.

"I am a die-hard romantic. I love all things romantic.

"Puffy understands that. For my last birthday, he covered my hotel room floor with rose petals and had flowers and candles all over the room.

"I love the idea of spending the whole day in bed with my lover.

"I'm very open with my love. I'm passionate and I feel a lot. I'm never afraid to get close to someone. I'm not afraid of love."

-- AllPop