In this article: Birthdays More from Britney Spears interview More from Mary Bono interview More from Mark Harmon interview Last week's Who's News

That's right; look for its release next month. Lopez, who started as a "Fly Girl" on the Fox comedy show In Living Color, even wrote some of the music for the album, a mix of ballads and dance tunes. The 28-year-old actress, whose breakthrough movie was the biography of the murdered Tejano singer Selena, is a diva wannabe who seeks a double-edged career - like that of Bette Midler, Whitney Houston or, dare we say, Barbra Streisand.

After more than a year in Congress, how does Rep. Sonny Bono's widow, Mary, like it?
Sandra L. Lawrence, Chicago.

"It's about what I expected," Bono, 37, tells us. And she loves it. Her legislative decisions are her own; she doesn't consider how her late husband might have voted. "You couldn't predict Sonny. How he would think on an issue would surprise you." She does think of him "when I need strength. It's more personal." Bono says, "I'm open-minded about my future. Politics is a constantly changing landscape, and as a woman and a mother, I don't know where my challenges will be four or five years from now." But the California Republican is committed to a re-election campaign. "Sometimes the sacrifices are large," she says from her car phone on the way to pick up her two children from school. "But they are worth it."

Britney Spears exploded onto the scene with her No. 1 album ... baby one more time. Tell me more about this pop sensation.
Jason Berg, Henderson, Nev.

The 17-year-old former Mickey Mouse Club kid has been keeping her cool around hot boy band 'N Sync, with whom she's touring. She has no boyfriend - "I don't have time" - but if a certain movie star called, she'd have an eternity: "I have a huge crush on Ben Affleck," Spears tells us. She's to be featured in an upcoming three-part Dawson's Creek, and has a TV deal that may work into her own series. Perhaps her wish to become a legend, "like Madonna," will come true. More

Chicago Hope actor Mark Harmon must be as brave as he is handsome. Wasn't he involved in a dramatic rescue?
Nancy Cheeks, Bluefield, W.Va.

Harmon says he's brave "or stupid." When he reacted quickly to pull a teen from a burning car three years ago, thought had little to do with it. "It has to do with some moral character you were raised with by your parents," he tells Who's News. "You either take part or you don't." Harmon, 47, and his wife, actress Pam Dawber, are rearing two kids of their own, which is why he's happy with series TV. "I get a chance to have breakfast with them or read them a bedtime story. It's almost a normal life." He directed a recent Hope episode and may do another.

Is Joseph Fiennes, who was robbed of Oscar nominations for both Shakespeare in Love and Elizabeth, related to Ralph Fiennes, of Schindler's List and English Patient fame?
S. Kellock Tarrytown, N.Y.

The roguishly handsome acting Fienneses are brothers. They have five more siblings, two in the arts: sister Marta is a director; brother Magnus, a composer. Ralph (pronounced Rafe), 37, and Joseph, 28 - who has a twin, Jake, a gamekeeper on an English estate - say they aren't competitive; each has developed his own career. Joseph has said he would like to jump between theater, in which he has years of experience in England, and more movie roles.

I have wondered since Home Improvement began nine years ago why Earl Hindman, who plays Tim Allen's neighbor Wilson, always conceals the bottom half of his face. Will we see the whole person when the show ends?
Norm Nethers, Carey, Ohio

The Home Improvement family was so divided on that question that they opted to "shoot it two ways and decide to air it whichever way we feel at the moment," executive producer Bruce Ferber says of the 90-minute finale, to air May 25. Wilson's hidden face came from an Allen idea: He wanted a character acting as his subconscious, whom only he would see. Because that might be limiting, Wilson became real but partly hidden, lending him an air of mystery. As for putting HI to rest, Ferber tells us: "Only The Simpsons could go on forever." W

Contributing: Laura Elizabeth Pohl

This week's Birthdays

May 2: Christine Baranski 47; Bianca Jagger 54
May 3: Greg Gumbel 53; Frankie Valli 62; James Brown 71
May 4: Lance Bass 20; Randy Travis 40; George Will 58; William Bennett 61
May 5: Steve Yzerman 34
May 6: George Clooney 38; Tony Blair 46; Willie Mays 68
May 7: Traci Lords 31; Robbie Knievel 37
May 8: Melissa Gilbert 35; Roma Downey, 39; Philip Bailey 48; Toni Tennille 56; Thomas Pynchon 62