ELLE’s February cover girl on motherhood, heartbreak, and the future of her career

Stretch cotton dress, Gucci, price upon request, at select Gucci stores nationwide. White gold and diamond earrings, Jacob & Co., price upon request. White gold and diamond watch, Van Cleef & Arpels, price upon request. White gold panther ring with diamonds, emeralds, and onyx, Cartier, price upon request. Photos: Tom Munro, styled by Joe Zee Goatskin and chain jacket, Moschino, $4,695, at Moschino Boutique, NYC . Silk jacquard bodysuit, Dolce & Gabbana, $1,295. Leather shorts, $725, cotton leg warmers, $55, both, Alexander Wang. Grommet-detail leather sandals, Giuseppe Zanotti Design, $1,095. Leather jacket, Rag & Bone, $1,495, at Scoop, NYC. Cotton V-neck T-shirt, Armani Exchange, $25. Jersey leggings, Prada, $390. Leather cap, David Samuel Menkes, $125. Diamond stud earrings, Chopard, price upon request. Yellow gold and diamond panther necklace, Cartier, price upon request. Yellow gold and diamond link necklace, Jacob & Co., price upon request, Lambskin fingerless gloves, Lauren Urstadt, $125. Leather-mesh platform sandals, Gucci, $990. On why she never considered in vitro fertilization, like her character in The Back-Up Plan: “When it comes to family and relationships, I’m quite traditional. Just because of the way I was raised. And I also believe in God and I have a lot of faith in that, so I just felt like you don’t mess with things like that. And I guess deep down I really felt like either this is not going to happen for me or it is. You know what I mean? And if it is, it will. And if it’s not, it’s not going to.” On the merit of her romantic comedies: “I think Maid in Manhattan and Monster-in-Law are very layered movies. And that’s why they’re so successful. People don’t like shitty romantic comedies. Nothing that’s shitty is going to make $100 million.” On hosting a dinner for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor: “She didn’t realize what she was going to symbolize. And it’s always scary to be thrown into it–that’s what I felt like when I did Selena. You’re thrown out there, and all of a sudden you’re not anonymous. You are now known. And that’s a lot to handle. It’s scary at first. Then you get used to it. And so she was in that moment of her life where it’s just like, What the hell? Everybody’s clapping for me. People are writing about me, talking about me, I’m on TV. She was just a judge in New York.” On competing with twenty-something pop idols as a 40-year-old mom: “This is what I do—what, because I have kids and a husband now I’m not supposed to be me? I’m a more heightened me if anything. Hyper J.Lo. Everything I wanted before, I want twice as much now. And that doesn’t mean material things; it means to explore more, to think more. Being an artist doesn’t start because you’re 21, and it doesn’t end because you’re 51. You are who you are until the day you die.” On betrayal: “This is something I haven’t been through once in my life. This is something I’ve been through a few times in my life. Where you really have your eggs in one basket and that breach happens and you know you should go but you’re still in love and you just don’t know what to do. It hits you because it’s not like you’re a cheater, and a liar, and I hate you, and you’re no good, and I’m leaving. It’s not that. It’s like, I’m tormented. Even though you’ve done this and I know it, I still don’t know what to do. I know I should go, but I don’t want to. And that’s why it’s such a fucked-up thing.”