Jennifer Lopez is feeling livelier and more invigorated the longer she settles into her illustrious career as one of Hollywood's most prominent entertainers.
The triple threat star, 54, was one of the many female stars who appeared on the cover of ELLE and spoke to Véronique Hyland about finding new life in her career while empowering women to embrace greater roles in the industry.
She expanded on the growing number of roles for older women, saying: "It has changed a lot, and I think it's appropriate. As you get older and you have more experience, you become a richer human being and you have more to offer.
"The idea of, 'There's nothing really valuable about watching a woman over 30' is so ridiculous, it's the opposite of right. It just makes me laugh," she continued, also adding that there's a certain sexiness that comes with aging.
"People have realized that women just get sexier as they get older. They get more learned and more rich with character. All of that is very beautiful and attractive, and not just physically, but on the inside, the beauty that you gain as you get older, the wisdom you gain."
Jennifer also talked about her desire to keep working as long as she can, even into her 70s and 80s and the "mindset" of continuing to perform without people putting her in boxes.
"I see myself working [as long as] I want to. I don't know what that age is. It might be 70, it might be 80, it might be 90, I don't know. But I know that it's there for me if I want it and I want to create it.
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"That has always been the mindset that I've had: to never let anybody put me in a box because of where I was born, where I'm from, what age I am, anything like that. Those boundaries don't exist for me."
The Hustlers star talked about her love for mentoring younger actors to reach the same heights she did and her advice for those just starting out in the industry.
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"I do like mentoring," she shared. "I like sharing the experience that I have. When I work with younger actors and I see them banging their head up against the wall, really trying to make this moment work, it's just like: The most important thing you can do right now is relax.
"Let's just be, let's just live. You start off and you have all of these ambitions: 'I'm going to be the greatest actor of all time and I'm going to do this and I'm going to do that.'"
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She continued: "You can and you will, but how you become that is to relax into it and understand that you know what you're doing and that you’ve put in the work. The more relaxed, the more aware I can be, the better."
JLo is making her long-awaited comeback with her album This is Me…Now and its accompanying musical film on February 16, 2024, a sequel of sorts to her 2002 album This is Me…Then. The upcoming lead single from the record, "Can't Get Enough," drops on January 10 and is now available for pre-save.
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