MNN - Mother Nature Network

 

 

When it comes to being green at home, “We try to do like anybody else, the recycling and all that stuff,” says Jennifer Lopez, the mother of 2-year-old twins who “only eat organic.” On April 23, Lopez returns to the screen in The Back-Up Plan, her first film since her maternity leave, as a single woman convinced that she’ll never find Mr. Right who meets her dream guy (Alex O’Loughlin) moments after becoming artificially inseminated. “So many things in this movie was art imitating life for me because I had just gone through the pregnancy,” says Lopez, who related to her character’s fatigue, extreme hunger, and hormone-driven emotional swings, but who didn’t have a back-up plan had she not met husband Marc Anthony. “It’s such a hard job to raise a child without a partner. I don’t know if I could do it on my own,” she tells MNN.

 

Currently developing other movie projects, she’s readying a new album called Love? for release this summer. So titled because love is “something you can never figure out,” the CD will be a familiar J. Lo mix of “street, hip-hop and R&B. It has a few ballads on there, and a few great dance cuts and mid-tempos.” Lopez also has a new Spanish-language album in the works for release in 2011.

 

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“I’ve been driving a hybrid for five or six years and we eat organic food and we try to keep the lights turned off,” says Megan Mullally (pictured right), also a farmers market habitué. Fondly remembered as Will & Grace’s Karen Walker, she returns to TV on April 23 as a newbie waitress in the Starz comedy series Party Down, about cater-waiters in Hollywood. “My husband and I were big fans of the show last season, so when I got offered this, I was really excited,” says Mullally, whose own restaurant experience at a Chicago eatery years ago was disastrous. “I was terrible,” she admits. “I’d forget the orders, take them to the wrong tables.” She nevertheless had no trouble getting into character, especially after she found the perfect accessories. “I went to Hollywood Boulevard and bought a $99 synthetic wig and purple glasses, which I wear with great glee,” she says.

 

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For Michael Ealy (FlashForward), giving up plastic water bottles was a no-brainer. “It’s an easy choice. You put in a filter and drink pure water out of a glass. You don’t have to worry about the mess and the effect on the environment,” says Ealy, who plays CIA agent Vogel in the ABC series and relishes the physical nature of the role. “I’ve done most of my stunts. Since Joe Fiennes does all of his, I’ve got to do mine. I’ve got to man up and do it myself.” Ealy (pictured left) will also be seen in the bank heist drama Takers with Matt Dillon, Paul Walker, Hayden Christensen and Zoe Saldana, due Aug. 20.

 

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Tune in: The History Channel premieres its 12-hour, six-night series America: The Story of Us on April 25, featuring commentary by Meryl Streep, Buzz Aldrin, Colin Powell, Brian Williams, Donald Trump, Michael Douglas and others, with an introduction by President Obama.