J Lo relishing the chance to be more discriminating in her work

J Lo looking for more freedom to explore new ways of expressing her creativity.

Ryan Guzman and Jennifer Lopez in The Boy Next Door. Suzanne Hanover / Universal Pictures / AP Photo

Jennifer Lopez turns heads with her wardrobe choices, from the green Versace gown she wore to the 2000 Golden Globe Awards to the sequinned bodysuit she wore to perform at the 2011 American Music Awards.

Lopez dug deep into her own wardrobe for the new movie The Boy Next Door, which opens in the United States on Friday. She was an executive producer of the film, which was made for less than $4 million (Dh14.7m).

“Wardrobe can get really expensive,” she explained in a recent interview. “With this movie, we didn’t have that luxury. It was about: ‘Who is Claire? What’s the palette? We’ll use my jeans, my shoes, my sweaters.’ A lot of things were mine.”

Lopez plays Claire, a recently separated teacher with a teenage son who shares a steamy night with a 19-year-old neighbour (played by Ryan Guzman), who then turns 50 shades of crazy.

“The artist in me wants more freedom to do more things as far as stories and movies and acting,” she said.

“It’s about finding avenues and ways to do that instead of waiting for people to hire me. [To] know that I can do different kinds of movies. Any kind I want. Put my name on the line, do it for free and say: ‘Yeah, I believe in this.’ I like the idea. It’s very empowering to me that that’s a possibility.”

Her co-star Kristen Chenoweth said recently that she marvelled at Lopez’s work ethic and feels she’s “a kindred spirit”.

“I cannot believe the type A, perfectionist, professionalism that that woman carries,” Chenoweth said. “It’s something that I try to have and it’s something I admire in women. She’s a strong woman.”

Speaking up and saying no is something she’s learnt over time, said Lopez, a mother of 6-year-old twins, Max and Emme, with her ex-husband Marc Anthony.

“There were times I hit the wall early on and you go: ‘OK I can’t do that.’ You don’t know you have limits when you’re young. Then you reach the limit and you go: ‘Oh, I can’t do that. And next time I won’t.’

“Then when you have kids, it’s another reality check. I have to be the best for them. You go: ‘I can’t do this, I can’t do that. No. The answer is no. That’s too much in one day. Take that out. Move that.’”

She also jokes that “people want you more when you say no – this is in every aspect of your life”.

The 45-year-old singer-actress is a judge on Fox's American Idol, which recently launched its 14th season.

“We have a great roster of kids. We were superconscious of how we were choosing and we talked a lot about it and we said: ‘This is what we want. We’re not settling. This is what we’re looking for. It’s got to be the whole ­package.’”