Jennifer Lopez admits she struggled with low self-esteem at the beginning of her career

Cape Town - Jennifer Lopez – who’s been a symbol of multi-talented flair and sensual femininity since she started her career almost twenty years ago – has admitted she wasn’t always as confident and self-assured as she is now.

The Dinero singer spoke at a panel in New York City after the screening of her new movie, Second Act, due to be released in cinemas on 21 December in the US, People magazine reports. 

JLo, 49, revealed how the views of others had a huge impact on her self-image, Celebretainment reports.

“You know, I’ve really become – and I think from being in this business – I don’t let the opinion of others really influence how I think about myself,” she said.

“And that took a long time. Because in the early part of my career, I did [let the opinion of others get to me] and it made me feel really bad about myself,” she added.

She adds that positive self-talk and hard work helped motivate her when her confidence was really low.

“I was like, 'No, I'm gonna make another record, I'm gonna make another song, I'm gonna make another movie. I'm a great actress, I'm a great singer, a great dancer. I'm great at this stuff! And I'm gonna keep going!' And I did. And that's all I did. I just kept going.

“And I just started working harder and harder than everybody else. I started believing in myself. I started believing in the fact that I wasn't an imposter, that I wasn't a fake.”

Sources: People, Celebretainment, The Conway Daily Sun