Jennifer Lopez in Ice Age 4: Continental Drift

One of the worlds most loved idol, musician and actressJennifer Lopez joins the fourth outing of the phenomenal hit franchise Ice Age headed by its three heroes from different species namely Manny the mammoth, Diego the tiger and Sid the sloth in Ice Age: Continental Drift

This time, along with Mannys family and Sids grandma, they face a formidable chilling adventure against a group of pirates in the cold seas. With Scrat in the middle of it all subdividing land masses into what we now know as the seven continents, the groups all-new adventure takes them on a thrilling ride to the far end of the seas.

Jennifer Lopez plays Shira, a beautiful saber tooth pirate who is also a loyal first mate on their ship of pirates headed by a prehistoric orangutan named Captain Gutt (Peter Drinklage).After Diego and Manny capsized Gutts ship, Shira gets separated from the pirates and is shocked to discover that Gutt has no real loyalty to her.When Diego appeals to her join his motley crew, she has to make the decision to stick with Gutt or to join Diego, Manny and the herd. Initially battling Diego and his best friends Manny and Sid, Shira finds herself slowly losing her heart to Diego in the midst of their adventure to find home.

But alas! Love Love is never simple, especially for sabre-toothed tigers.Shira is a member of a pirate crew that has taken Diego, Manny and Sid hostage, so Shira and Diegos initial encounters are as foes who go toe-to-toe and sabre-to-sabre against one another.They are equally matched. Shira is a femme fatale; shes sharp, fast and intelligent.But theyre more alike one another than either tiger would admit, and from their hostility and attempts at one-upmanship comes a shared point of view and ultimately a relationship, director Steve Martino shares.

Leary insists its about time Diego found someone to share his life with.It to! ok only four Ice Age movies for me to get a love interest.Believe me, when making the first Ice Age, I didnt look down the road and think, you know, Diegos going to get a girlfriend and its going to be J-Lo.I would have put that in my contract back then if I thought I could have gotten away with it!

According to Jennifer Lopez, who joins the Ice Age family as Shira, Diego and Shira are destined to join forces.The two characters have a similar backstory, she explains.Diego left his pack of sabre-toothed tigers in the first film, and Shira had left hers because she didnt like the pack mentality.Shira felt like she didnt belong anywhere until she joined the pirates.Eventually she realizes the pirates are out for themselves, and she must make a choice between staying with them or starting a new life with Diego.And as we all know, Diego can be very convincing.

Lopez was excited about joining the Ice Age team, especially as an empowered figure.ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT is a poignant, fun, exciting and sweet story, and I love playing strong female characters like Shira, she explains.

The filmmakers were thrilled to get the multi-talented actress-singer-American Idol judge onboard.Playing a character in an animated film is about more than just the actors voice, says producer Lori Forte.Its about the attitude, and Jennifer really brings it.The film also makes use of Lopezs singing talents, as she joins her fellow pirates (including Peter Dinklage, Nick Frost, Aziz Ansari, and Alain Chabat) in a sea shanty, Master of the Seas, written by Adam Schlesinger (of Fountains of Wayne); and accompanies Nicki Minaj, Romano, Leary, John Leguizamo and Latifah) in the closing song, We Are (Theme from ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT), written by Ester Dean.

But first, some words from J. Los Shira on filming the latest Ice Age movie and the experience with co-stars ! of vario us species.

Q:Great to meet you Shira. Youve got such a beautiful shiny coat.

Shira:Purr Thank you very much (licks paws).

Q:Youre new to the Ice Age gang. What did you make of them at first?

Shira:That pack of misfits? A sloth, a mammoth and a sabre-toothed tiger its like the start of a really bad joke. No, Im just kidding with you. Those guys are the best thing that ever happened to me. They gave me back my freedom Well, after they locked me in a prison cave that is.

Q:Prison cave? What happened?

Shira:Oh, its a long story. Lets just say Id fallen in with a bad crowd and had some deep-seated trust issues.

Q:By a bad crowd, do you mean Captain Gutt and his revolting crew of pirates?

Shira:Id really rather not talk about that phase of my life. Its in the past now.

Q:We hear youre quite a warrior princess. Is that true?

Shira:I can hold my own (strokes whiskers). All those years on a pirate ship did at least teach me how to fight. It was survival of the fittest out there, not survival of the friendliest.

Q:Not just a pretty kitty then?

Shira:Hissss! Everyone knows the female of the species is more deadly than the male.So youd better watch out (growls).

Q:Oh come on, you two are blatantly having some kind of romance. Admit it you melted his ice-cold heart didnt you?

Shira:Ill tell you what. If you can run to the top of that vertical cliff face and back in under 30 seconds, Ill tell you anything you want.

Ice Age 4: Continental Drift opens July 12 in cinemas nationwide from 20thCentury Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.