Jennifer Lopez Laments Over Being Misunderstood and Reveals Dream to Become a Director

Jennifer Lopez has opened up about feeling misunderstood in her decades-long career and revealed her aspirations to work behind the camera as a director, according to recent media interviews.

via: Daily Mail

Jennifer Lopez has achieved a lot in her career as an entertainer, but she still has one dream that's been left unfulfilled - directing.

'Everybody's always trying to tell you: "You can only do this" or "You can only do that,"' the 56-year-old pop diva told LA Times' The Envelope Tuesday.

'I still want to direct. I still want to write more books. And I don't ever feel like there's somebody who can say to me, "No, you can't."'

Lopez compared herself to 'a lightning rod for nice things and a lot of negativity' and she frequently feels misunderstood.

'It's hard because you say to yourself, "These people don't get me. They don't see me. They don't understand me,"' the two-time Grammy nominee lamented.

'Then all of a sudden they do. And then they don't again. Even from when I was very young, I would always say, "I know who I am. I'm a good person. I know what I'm doing. People wouldn't hire me if I wasn't good at what I do."

'I was always affirming myself and keeping my feet on the ground. Luckily, I had a great mom and dad who really instilled in me a sense of self.'

Lopez added: 'I'd have to block out the noise so I can put my head on the pillow at night and go, "I did good today. I was a good person. I was kind to people. I worked really hard. I'm a good mom." That has always helped me through.'

The Nuyorican co-founder made her directorial debut in 2018 helming the music video for her song Limitless, which starred her then 10-year-old daughter Emme Maribel Muñiz, who also sang back-up vocals.

'She was so amazing and I was so proud. I forgot that I was directing my first video, it was all about her. It was all about her,' Lopez gushed to The Tonight Show at the time.

'And when you see the video, it's so empowering for, just to see her doing this but, like, for women. It talks about being limitless, it talks about having second acts, it's a beautiful message as well, and great to share with her, doing that. We really bonded.'

The non-binary 17-year-old went on to perform Limitless with her famous mother on her subsequent 37-date It's My Party tour and Super Bowl LIV halftime show in 2020.

Lopez is hard at work rehearsing for her 12-date Up All Night Live in Las Vegas residency at Caesars Palace's The Colosseum, which kicks off December 30.

'I honestly believe, like, the show is about being happy, having joy, and having fun,' the ex-girlfriend of Diddy said in a BTS video Thursday.

'It's like, "No, I don't want this or this. My love don't cost a thing. I'm a woman. I ain't your mama. I'm not f***ing... I'm throwing out my Louis Vuittons. I don't want you in my house if you're going to be an a**hole." Like, I just want to have fun.'

It's worth noting Lopez finalized her divorce from fourth husband Ben Affleck on February 21 after less than three years of wedded bliss.

The American Music Awards host has a notorious reputation in the music industry for passing off the vocals of African-American singers like Ashanti, Christina Milian, and Brandy as her own.

For instance in 2002, Lopez not only kept the entire Jenny from the Block chorus and bridge performed by her back-up vocalist Natasha Ramos on the finished record, she even kept her giggles from the original demo

Despite this, the Emmy-nominated producer - who gets 27.3 million monthly listeners on Spotify - has sold more than 80M records, her music has been streamed 15B times and her music videos have accrued more than 18B views.

Lopez suffered two major box office failures this year as Unstoppable only earned $3,966 before streaming on Prime Video and The Kiss of the Spider Woman only earned $2 million after a $30 million budget.

Hennifer's upcoming films include Ol Parker's Netflix-bound rom-com Office Romance with her 'best onscreen kisser' Brett Goldstein and Robert Zemeckis' thriller The Last Mrs. Parrish for Netflix.

Lopez will also produce Bob the Builder for Amazon MGM Studios.

The JLo Beauty founder - whose big break was starring in Gregory Nava's 1997 Selena biopic - originally got her start in 1991 as a Fly Girl for Fox's comedy sketch show In Living Color before serving back-up dancer duties for Janet Jackson in 1993.