While Jennifer Lopez is often praised for her natural voluptuous curves, things were quite different for the pop star when she first landed her big break playing the late Selena in the self-titled 1997 film. In her Netflix documentary, “Halftime,” which debuted on the streaming platform today, J. Lo recalled how the endless criticism she received for her figure almost led her to quit showbiz because she had grown tired of people commenting on the fact that she didn’t look like most actresses who were working in Hollywood at that time.

“There were many times where I was just like, I think I’m just going to quit. I had to really figure out who I was. And believe in that and not believe in anything else,” she said. “When I started working, the beauty ideal was very thin, blonde, tall, not a lot of curves. I grew up around women with curves so it was nothing I was ever ashamed of. It was hard, when you think people think you’re a joke — like a punchline.”

And though Jennifer says she was often made to feel like her body type had no place in the entertainment industry, the mother of two was glad she didn’t give up on herself as she went on to become one of the best-selling artists of the ’00s. What’s more, for her role as Selena in the 1997 flick, J.Lo also became the first Latina to earn more than $1 million before she would go on to inspire the creation of Google Images after wearing her iconic Versace dress at the Grammy Awards in 2000.

The “All I Have” singer’s fiancé Ben Affleck also appears in the documentary, as he reflected on how he dealt with the backlash his leading lady was dealt with when they first started dating in 2002. “I said to her once, ‘Doesn’t this bother you?’ And she said, ‘I’m Latina, I’m a woman, I expected this.’”

The 52-year-old also touched on her divorce from Marc Anthony after the pair called it quits back in 2014. Together, they share twins, Max and Emme, 14, and while they are actively co-parenting their children, Jennifer made it no secret in the doc that becoming a single mom of two made it hard for her to find a balance between motherhood and work.

She openly admitted to movie roles having slowed down at the time, her divorce had been finalized, and now she was trying to manage her career while still spending quality time with her twins, which Jennifer says had ultimately left her questioning her own value. She credited joining American Idol as the first big gig since welcoming her kids that allowed her to show “who I was and that changed everything.”

From there, Jennifer slowly but surely saw things fall back into place as she went on to star and executive produce the NBC series Shades of Blue alongside the late Ray Liotta. She helmed the same position for 2018’s Second Act before beginning work on 2019’s Hustlers, which not only became her best live-action opening to date but also received a heap of rave reviews from critics.