Lopez was born in The Bronx, New York to Puerto Rican parents Guadalupe Rodríguez and David López. She has two sisters, Lynda and Leslie. Though López's parents were born in the same Puerto Rican town, they did not meet until they both had moved to Castle Hill. They were strict with their children and instilled a strong work ethic in them — no one in the family was allowed to miss a day of school, work, or church (the family was devoutly Roman Catholic). "Our parents had a strong work ethic — there wasn't really any other way," Lynda López told Rolling Stone. López' parents also stressed assimilation, especially the need to speak English. López spent much of what she called "the boyfriend years" sneaking around to meet up with first-love Davíd Cruz, whom she remained with from the time she was 16 until she was 25."I was always climbing out windows, jumping off roofs, and he was sneaking up," she said. "It was crazy." She spent her entire academic career in Catholic school and acknowledges that she still prays regularly. She was a driven student and natural athlete. She went out for the track team, though she had no experience. Her father feared that, new to the sport, she would be outclassed, but López rose to the challenge and ended up competing nationally. "Basically, anything she wants to do, she'll be as successful as you can at it," sister Lynda López said. "That's the kind of person she is."
López financed singing and dancing lessons from the age of 16. After she dropped out of college after one semester, Lopez pursued dancing full-time. She split her time between her job at a law office, taking dance classes, and dancing in Manhattan clubs at night. Though she did not, and still does not, drink alcohol, her parents disapproved of her working nights so far from home and feared she was associating with a dangerous crowd. She moved out of the house in protest of her parents and literally lived on the floor of the dance studio for many years until she could pay rent with occasional work as a dancer. After months and months of auditioning for dance gigs, she got her first spot and started out in television as a video girl for various rap artists, and a guest spot on the American Music Awards. Her first regular high profile gig was as a fly girl dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color in 1991 after being twice rejected. She then left the show after two seasons due to friction with another dancer. López had a small role in a short-lived television program South Central. She also found television work in Second Chances and Hotel Malibu and the made-for-TV movie Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7. She danced for Janet Jackson in Jackson's video for the song "That's The Way Love Goes" in 1993. López broke onto the big screen in 1995, in the drama My Family/Mi Familia and opposite Wesley Snipes in the action film Money Train. She appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's 1996 comedy Jack opposite Robin Williams, and the 1997 thriller Blood and Wine with Jack Nicholson.
After a nationwide search of tens of thousands of women, López was chosen to play the lead role in the film Selena. In 1998, the Golden Globe Awards organization nominated her for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy for her performance.
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