The Anthony-Lopez Show

Says Anthony: "It's just so destructive when you play that tabloid game. I decided very early on not to do it." By this, he says, he means not giving the stalkerazzi anything to work with and setting ground rules in interviews, though none were actually given to us.

"When interviewers ask me silly [expletive] questions about what I ate in the morning, or whether this rumor is true or whatever -- why would I even answer those questions?" he says. "It's a waste of my life. I'm sitting in front of you to tell you about art, whether it's a movie, whether it's an album, whether it's this tour."

Our discussion hasn't been exactly All About the Art. But, then, it's just part of the dance. This, they get.

"We're entertainers, and we talk to the press to let people know what we're doing," Lopez says. (To wit, she says, making a plug: Her new album, "Brave," is coming Oct. 9, and it's loaded with danceable hip-hop and R&B tracks.) In an interview about a particular project, she or Anthony might discuss some aspects of their relationship. But not all of them, she says. "It's not open season."

Let's talk about the intersection of art and life, then. In "El Cantante," Anthony plays one of his musical idols, Lavoe, and Lopez plays his wife, Nilda "Puchi" Perez. The couple have a tempestuous, wildly dysfunctional relationship. They argue and fight, then they fight some more.

Brawling in character with your real-life spouse: Difficult? Stressful? Trying?

"It was fun!" They-Lo say in unison, as if they're singing harmony vocals together. (Though, if they are, one of them is slightly off-key.)

Fun?"It really was, bro," Anthony says. "You got to say a lot of [expletive] you can't say in real life. We went there. But it wasn't difficult to step out of it, because it was so different. That's so not me, that's so not Jen, that's so not us. It just made me feel normal, you know what I mean? On the way home from the set, I was going, 'Thank God that's not us!' "

Lopez nods.

"When we did some of those intense, emotional fighting scenes, it was exciting," she says. "But it was also scary, in a way."

Uh, Strong Women

The audience at Continental Airlines Arena today numbers about 60: lighting guys, sound guys, stage directors; the production manager and the tour promoter; the musicians who are starting to wander in for rehearsal; and the backup dancers in their sweats and scarves, stretching in front of a mirror on a spartan, secondary rehearsal stage.

Anthony seems to have an easy rapport with everybody he encounters. Lopez may or may not be a taskmaster.

She oversees a business empire that includes two fashion labels, a successful line of perfume, that film production company and a Southern California restaurant. This year, Forbes ranked her ninth among the richest women in entertainment, with a net worth of $110 million. Jenny From the Block, as she referred to herself in a smash hit, can now buy the entire block.

Or, she can rent a basketball arena for days at a time and turn it into her personal rehearsal space.

Upon arriving, she wonders why nobody is rehearsing. (She seems to be joking.) Later, she yells for the band to start playing and for everybody to get to work. "We've wasted a half-day already!" she says. (This time, she is probably not joking.)

The Washington Post: "I'm sure you're aware that some people have referred to you as --"

Lopez: "You're trying to find the delicate word! [Laughs.] Okay, what?"

TWP: "Ummm, powerful. Strong. Driven."

Lopez: "Yes?"

TWP: "In Latino culture. . ."

Lopez: "Are there Latino women who aren't like that? 'Cause I don't know any."

Anthony: "I've never met a Latina who wasn't strong. I was raised by them. My mom, my sisters, all of them."

Lopez: "Women in general, when they are strong, get a tough rap. Whether it's Barbra Streisand or any of these other strong women who have accomplished a lot and have multifaceted careers and have an opinion, they're always going to be looked at a certain way. Just because they're women. But it's never something I looked at like, 'Oh, this is a bad thing that people are saying this.' No! I think they admire that I really work hard."

Anthony: "Where do they even get that from, sweetheart? You're just a hardworking woman. You're actually too sweet. I wish you were meaner."

Lopez cackles. Anthony leans in to kiss her shoulder. So celebri-cuddly cute. Is it a genuine display of affection, or just another stage move? In the constructed world of They-Lo, who really knows?