Jennifer Lopez Talks Staying True To Latina Heritage At Beginning Of Career

Superstar Jennifer Lopez said being proud of her Latina heritage helped build her self-confidence as a budding actress. The star clocked 53 two months ago and celebrated the occasion with a sizzling nude photo which was also in line with her skincare line launch, JLO Body.

Over the years, the actress has been particularly outspoken about her love for her body and Latina heritage. Via her foundation, Lopez has invested in hundreds of Latina businesses to benefit her community. Her most recent philanthropic move involved a partnership with a nonprofit organization to reach an even wider Latina audience.

During her recent interview, Lopez talked about navigating Hollywood as a Latina and how she built up her confidence despite being different from most. The artist revealed that her mother, Guadalupe Rodríguez, as well as the rest of her family, taught her early enough to embrace her differences.

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Lopez joined Today in an interview and talked about how she embraced her body and heritage at the start of her career in Hollywood. The actress told the host, Morgan Radford, about how she was encouraged to be proud of herself as a child, so she never allowed anyone to "pigeonhole" her into something else.

"It's just who I was," the "Marry Me" actress said via People Magazine. "And so when I went into these worlds, like Hollywood, where we were not represented at all, I almost felt like a unicorn. 'I'm Latina. I'm Jennifer Lopez from the Bronx. And my parents are Puerto Rican; I'm Puerto Rican.' And I think it made me feel special."

The 53-year-old added that although not a lot of women looked like her at the time, it didn't make her think any less of her body. "Even the whole body thing was such a thing. It was like, everybody was like size zero models, tall, blonde — beautiful, a certain type of beauty — but there was other types of beauty that I grew up with," Lopez said.

As a result of her various business in beauty, fashion, and production endeavors, Lopez rose to be one of the most successful Latina figures. The actress has not held back in terms of giving back to her community and, over the years, helped hundreds of Latina entrepreneurs. Limitless Labs foundation is the artist's home for her philanthropic work and recently partnered with Grameen America, a nonprofit organization.

The partnership will reportedly strive to invest up to $14 billion in as many Latina-owned businesses as possible by 2030. Lopez and Andrea Jung, the CEO and president of the organization made the announcement during the Raising Latina Voices event.

The 53-year-old will be the Grameen America National Ambassador, and using her role, she will mentor and advocate the extensive network of predominantly Latinx women-run businesses across the US.

Lopez took to Instagram to post a nude picture celebrating her 53rd birthday and the launch of her skincare line JLo Body by JLo Beauty. The new skincare line was reportedly focused on the body rather than the face and, according to the actress, was something she thought about doing most of her life.

At the time, she told Peoplethat she watched her mother while growing up and saw her worry about things like cellulite. "I remember her wishing that there was some magic formula that was just going to make it disappear," Lopez said. "And the truth is, we know that doesn't exist."

Lopez added that she thought beauty had no expiration date mainly because of her line of business. According to the artist, youth was more glorified in the entertainment business, and at a certain age, women were written off. She revealed that while growing up, she looked up to stars like Tina Turner, Cher, and Diana Ross, who were well into their 50s and stunning.

Further on, the 53-year-old talked about her husband, Ben Affleck, and how much he loved how she looked with or without makeup. He is like, 'I like you when you have nothing on. No hair on, no makeup on, just you in your own skin," the actress said.

"He really appreciates that," Lopez continued. "And that makes me feel really confident and beautiful. Someone can see the essence of who you are and just the skin that you're in and that I take care of that and that he appreciates that. That makes me feel really beautiful too."

Lopez and Affleck tied the knot on July 17 in a surprise, intimate wedding after rekindling their romance almost 20 years after they initially split. They conducted a second and very lavish wedding in Georgia a month later with just over a hundred guests present.