Bombshells Away.(on Jennifer Lopez)(Interview)

Byline: Judith Newman PHOTOGRAPHED BY MICHAEL THOMPSON

Bombshells Away

Infectious-hit singer, sultry and sweet actress, and tabloid magnet: Jennifer Lopez has always made success (and fame) her business. Now, after a break, she's backwith a whole new outlook.

The instructions I received from Jennifer Lopez's people seemed perfectly reasonable: "All beverages, flowers, and foodstuffs presented to Ms. Lopez are to be wrapped in white silk and perfumed with her fragrance Glow. There will be no fewer than two but no more than six varieties of muffin in any basket offered to her. At no point in the interview will the journalist stir coffee in a counterclockwise direction, nor will s/he look directly into Ms. Lopez's eyes. To facilitate this request, Ms. Lopez will be seated behind a sheer white curtain, and an open canister of liquid nitrogen will be placed next to her to ensure that..."

Not a word of this is true, of course, but wouldn't it be cool if it were? This is Jennifer Lopez. Star of stage (well, recording studio) and screen, first Latina to break the $1 million fee barrier in Hollywood. Originator of the mono-named coupleremember, before there was a TomKat or a Brangelina, there was Benniferand dater of famous men so dissimilar and headline-grabbing you'd almost think she was doing it for our benefit.

The real rider, a list of requirements for one concert, is one of the most-viewed documents on thesmokinggun.com, and as I drive out to Long Island, New York, to see her in the home she shares with her husband, singer Marc Anthony, I can't help thinking about itand the fact that one of the most scrutinized performers of our time has been out of sight lately, save for occasional photo ops.

True, BeyoncA[c] is now the one with the world-famous booty and the cultural-watershed songs; but in the '90s and early aughts, J.Lo didn't have to share the title "diva" with anyone. Lopez seemed to love the spotlightI wonder how she has fared without it and how she feels about her reentry.

"Can you imagine saying, 'I want everything white everywhere I go'? Crazy."

Lopez greets me in her study. In the place of the voluptuary I'm expecting, there is a tiny, fine-boned woman with perfect posture. Her hair is pulled close to her head; she wears a short-sleeved black knit turtleneck, lace tights, and Louboutin booties. And there it is, still, the Nefertiti bottom that's launched 1,000 tributes. She looks 10 years younger than her 40 years, and she has just put her twins, Emme and Maximilian, down for a nap.

In a sense, they're why we're here. Lopez took more than a year off to be with her childrenand that's enough. During that time, she also seems to have found a new calm, and perhaps a …