Despite being an international superstar, Jennifer Lopez is still that chick from the block. In a new interview with W magazine, the actress-dancer-mogul recalled growing up in the Bronx and not having a place to call home while pursuing her career.
“My mom and I butted heads,” she said. “I didn’t want to go to college—I wanted to try dance full-time. So she and I had a break. I started sleeping on the sofa in the dance studio. I was homeless, but I told her, ‘This is what I have to do.'”
While J.Lo, 18 at the time, was studying dance at the Ballet Hispanico and Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club, it didn’t take long before she caught her first big break.
“A few months later, I landed a job dancing in Europe,” she said. “When I got back, I booked In Living Color. I became a Fly Girl and moved to L.A. It all happened in a year.”
Even if she now resides on the West Coast, her work ethic still remains the same, especially as a full-time mother to two twins, Max and Emme, who she hopes pick up the same discipline from their momma.
“I think a lot about teaching my kids to work hard,” Lopez said. “I’ve learned something about kids—they don’t do what you say; they do what you do. I watched my parents. My dad worked nights, and I was aware of how much he was doing for us. My mom was a Tupperware lady and also worked at the school. I always felt that I couldn’t let them down. And I had a natural discipline from early on. I was always training for something.”
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