If it seems as if Jennifer Lopez never takes a break, it's because she doesn't. The multi-talented star opened up to The New York Times ahead of the release of her upcoming film SecondAct, and talked about her kids, what she has learned from boyfriend Alex Rodriguez and what it took for her to know her worth.
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In the past few years, Jen has continued to reinvent herself but her return to the big screen comes from her desire to play characters who do the impossible, regardless of their background, gender or age. In the story published on Wednesday, October 31, J.Lo revealed that it was her journey to self-confidence and self-love that has led her to make better decisions not only in her personal life and as a mother, but also in her career and in business.
A lot of self reflection has led J.Lo to demand what she deserves in all areas of her life, especially her career.
“I want what I deserve,” she told the newspaper. “Understanding my own worth and value as a person made me understand it differently in my work, as well.” She also added that it “has been a long journey" for her: "And so I’m very proud to stand in the shoes of, yes, I think I do deserve more. All artists do deserve more. We are the scarce asset. They can’t do anything without us. They have no product. So we have to understand that.” That's totally understandble from someone who has such a long trajectory and so much success in the past 20 years.
Surrounding herself with like-minded people, like A-Rod, has contributed to her growth.
She has been learning a lot about business from the former baseball star. “He just opened up our vision to other ways of doing [business] that were not only more lucrative but gave us more freedom, gave us more control over our own image and our own ideas, instead of giving them away,” she said of her boyfriend, whom she's been dating since early 2017.
Alex was also interviewed for the article and he gushed about his girl's incredible power and influence.
“She is the master of shattering the word 'no.' I’ve never seen anything like it," he said about the World of Dance judge. “She keeps breaking through. She’s one of the most powerful brands on the planet.” He also gave her props for her ability to connect with people of all ages. “She has over 150 million followers on social media, and over 75 percent of those are millennials,” the former Yankee added. “She’s able to see around corners and connect with the masses at a level that I’ve never seen anyone connect with. She innately has that DNA that understands how to land her points. That’s just maybe being a great communicator.”
Not only that but he said she's also teaching his two daughters: “how to sing, how to dance, how to stand as a strong woman, and it’s incredibly powerful and beautiful for me to see.”
Jen also talked about how she hopes to pass down all that she's learned to her kids, Emme and Max.
She said she felt a small success as a parent when Emme, who is 10, recently said she might not get married in the future. “I’ve always been trying to tell her, love yourself. You don’t need anybody to complete you. She don’t need no fairy tale,” J.Lo said, adding that she hopes to help make a difference for the future generations. “The world I want my daughter to live in and my son, who’s going to be a man who respects women and understands women and gives them their worth.”
Jen's new movie is about a woman getting a second chance to live her life right.
Her character in the film, which hit theaters on Friday, November 2 and is a Nuyorican Productions project, starts a new career in her 40s and succeeds. Jen, who has been reinventing herself for decades, feels like that's what life is about and never taking "no" for an answer. “There is racism. There is sexism. There is ageism. There is all of this and you know what, that’s still not going to stop me,” she told the publication. “I believe that 100 percent, to the bottom of my soul.”
The ups and downs of life led Jen right into this new phase of her life.
Following her divorce from Marc Anthony, Jen found herself having to change and do a lot of internal work and that included going to therapy at the suggestion of her best friend, Leah Remini. “I discovered I had low self-esteem, which I had never really pictured myself as having,” she revealed but that has led her to discover her own worth. Her longtime manager, Benny Medina, said that Jen is evolving right in front of our eyes, in part due to her new relationship. "The personal confidence and comfort level has risen to a high that I’ve never seen before," the business man said. "We’re experiencing a new version of Jennifer Lopez.”
