Jennifer Lopez recounted details of how she was made to feel inferior by her body.
Jennifer Lopez premiered her Netflix documentary "Halftime", where she reflects on her legendary career, and makes major revelations, including that she nearly gave up on her career.
The 52-year-old actress/singer/dancer helped forge a path for other Latina actresses to follow, becoming the first actress to earn more than $1 million for her role in "Selena."
With her fame came increased scrutiny over her curvaceous figure. She thus revealed it in the documentary, specifying that the criticism was so intense that she thought of leaving show business altogether.
"There were many times where I thought, I think I'm just going to give up. I had to figure out who I was. And believe in that and not believe in anything else," the artist admitted.
Her curvaceous body type was far from the norm when she burst onto the scene with Selena. "When I started working, the beauty ideal was to be very thin, blonde, tall, without a lot of curves," she said.
"I grew up around curvy women, so I was never ashamed of anything. It was hard when you think people think you're a joke, like a joke," she noted.
"But it ended up affecting things in a way that I never intended," she said, adding that her then-partner Ben Affleck was surprised by the criticism. The actor said in the documentary: "I said to him once, 'Doesn't this bother you?' And she said, 'I'm Latina, I'm a woman, I expected this.'"
Jennifer Lopez also opened up about how difficult it was for her to return to work after her divorce from Marc Anthony as a single mother with two children. "As an artist, I lost a bit of who I was trying to build a perfect life, and when my children were three years old, I was divorced and a single mother with two young children," she said.
"At 42, movie roles weren't knocking on my door. When I was going back to work, I felt like I didn't know my worth anymore," she said.
