Jennifer Lopez opens up about struggle to be taken seriously

Jennifer Lopez is never done challenging herself, people’s perceptions, and expectations about her, as she opened up about her career and struggles as an actress.

On the September 28 episode of CBS News Sunday Morning, the pop icon spoke with host Lee Cowan about her career and her latest movie, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Lopez’s first movie musical.

Speaking on the show, Lopez reflected on her struggles to prove herself as an actress when audiences wanted to limit her to a dancer or singer only.

"People, when they see you first as one thing, it's hard for them to see you as something else,” Lopez explained. “You just have to show them. You can't let that discourage you.”

Taking the conversation forward, Cowan asked, "Did you struggle to be taken seriously at first?" Lopez laughed as she responded, "At first? At first — and maybe always."

“Maybe it’s just in my head,” she admitted, as she said that she had always felt like the underdog, often misunderstood.

“That’s part of being in the spotlight — people never fully know your heart,” she said. “They see one thing, then hear another, and get confused. I get it, I understand, it just comes with the territory.”

"But I stay steady," said Lopez. "And that's the most important thing, I think. I don't change. I grow, but I don't change."

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