Jennifer Lopez Says She 'Became a Better Mother' Making New Netflix Film: 'It Was a Growing Experience'

Lopez spoke on real-life motherhood while addressing the audience during a screening of The Mother on Thursday at The Whitby Hotel in New York City

Jennifer Lopez says she became a "better mother" while working on her latest project.

During a screening of The Mother on Thursday at The Whitby Hotel in New York City, the actress and singer got personal when addressing the audience, speaking on what the Netflix film means to her as a real-life mom.

"I think that there are some beautiful themes in here about what it is to be a mother, what it is to want to protect something with your entire life, as we do with our children," Lopez, 53, told the audience of the Niki Caro-directed action-drama flick, which also stars Joseph Fiennes, Omari Hardwick and Gael García Bernal.

Speaking on the "cathartic" filming process and how it related to her own life with teenagers, Lopez, who rocked a slim black dress for the evening, said she became a "better mother" from this new perspective working with Lucy Gaez, who plays her daughter in the movie.

"It was a great experience to have her mouthing off to me on the set and then go home and have the same experience at home," she joked, then turned more serious: "But it really was a kind of growing experience for me."

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Continued Lopez, "I honestly think that during this movie, I became a better mother. Because it made me really think about a lot of things as it pertained to my child and what I wanted them to know, what I wanted them to learn and who I wanted to be to them."

"And what it meant to really be Mom to not babies anymore, but to little adults," she added.

Lopez, who is married to Ben Affleck, shares 15-year-old twins Maximilian "Max" David and Emme Maribel with ex-husband Marc Anthony.

In the film, the multi-hyphenate superstar plays an assassin who comes out of hiding to protect the daughter she was forced to leave behind because of her dangerous job.

"I'm a killer. But I'm also a mother," Lopez says in the action-packed trailer. "And I will die protecting her."

The Bronx, New York, native spoke about real-life parenting during an appearance on Today with Hoda Kotb on Wednesday, telling the latter about watching her teenagers grow up in a "different way" than she did.

"They're becoming adults. They're challenging everything in life. And these kids have so much information — so much more than we had — so they're thinking and talking about life in a different way than I did when I was 15 or 16 years old," the Hustlers star explained.

After Kotb, 58, stated that she and Lopez "followed the rules" growing up, Lopez agreed, adding, "Yes! And they don't!"

"They're challenging and looking at everything, which is great for our world. I feel like they're going to change the world, quite honestly. And make it so much better than we did," she added.

The Mother premieres May 12 on Netflix.

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