jennifer lopez opened up to the British press at a special London screening of her latest movie Unstoppable.
The actress stars in the biography – produced by ex Ben Affleck and Matt Damon‘s production company – as Judy Robles, who became a teen mum to Anthony Robles (played by Jharrel Jerome), a one-legged wrestling champion and author.
On the blue carpet at Cineworld Leicester Square, Lopez spoke almost cryptically about how “things always happen for a reason”, just months later filing for divorce from her husband,
READ MORE: Dame Kristin Scott Thomas confirms secret wedding
While talking about the actors’ strike interrupting filming, when she was just two days out from finishing, JLo mused on its impacts.
“I had to come back for two days, six months later, or whatever it was, but we got through it,” she told Heart Radio,
“And sometimes things happen, I think – not sometimes, things always happen for a reason – and it gave Jharrel more time to kind of get ready for these scenes, these are not easy scenes that he had to do with the wrestling and stuff like that.
“It gave me time to think about other aspects of it and see some of the scenes done already and know what to infuse for the stuff that I still had left.
READ MORE: ‘Sneak into the polls’: Star’s endorsement angers fans
“So, things always work out for the best.”
JLo revealed during the Q&A at the event that at first she thought Judy would be a “small character” but after meeting her, felt it was a story about both of them.
Lopez said the film was “very relatable” for women in “challenging relationships” and praised Robles as an example of benefitting “from her life experience, as opposed to being brought down by” it.
“I think a lot of women have gone through that, and she (Judy) and I talked a lot,” the mum of twins Max and Emme, 16, told the audience inside the cinema.
“We got to know each other. I wanted her to really feel safe with me (while) sharing details, because as great as the story is, without the struggle, that’s what makes it great.”
“There was a whole different story there that she was living, that you hide from your children, you protect your children from that.
“But I thought it was really, really important to not just play the mum who the kids knew, but to play the woman who raised these children and where she found her own strength and her own struggles, and was able to put that and make make sure her children … benefited from her life experience, as opposed to being brought down by the things that she was struggling with.
“And for me, it was just a full, beautiful character to play, and I really enjoyed kind of losing myself and … I didn’t want anybody to see me in it. I wanted them to see Judy in it.”
The premiere took place in the UK just as the US election vote count was about to kick off.
Lopez, who threw her support publicly behind Democratic nominee Kamala Harrissaid she chose to front a recent Las Vegas rally to help “empower” others.
For a daily dose of 9honey, subscribe to our newsletter here,
All the celebrities spotted at US political rallies
“I was very keen to get out there and was very particular with the message that I wanted to deliver personally to people because I know that is what I want to hear,” she told. ITV News,
“You matter, you are important, you have the power, go out there and use it and I think sometimes we forget that.
“We think we are just one person and we’re not going to make a difference.”
FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.