Jennifer Lopez Opens Up About Her Homeless Phase In New Interview

Jennifer Lopez poses with her new star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday, June 20, 2013 in Los Angeles.

Jennifer Lopez is opening up about the deep connection she maintains with her roots in the Bronx, the New York City borough in which she was raised.

Gracing the cover of the August issue of W Magazine, Lopez revealed the early struggles she went through while trying to break into the entertainment industry.

“I’ve always had dreams — the dreams have just gotten bigger,” Lopez said.

Her desire to pursue those dreams was so strong that early on they put a rife between Lopez and her mother.

“I didn’t want to go to college — I wanted to try dance full time. So she and I had a break. I started sleeping on the sofa in the dance studio. I was homeless, but I told her, ‘This is what I have to do.’”

After landing her part as a fly girl on “In Living Color,” Lopez was forced to move to Los Angeles, a place she has grown to love but doesn’t give her "the strength the way the Bronx did.”

“All the strength that I needed for life, I got from that neighborhood,” Lopez added.

Now as the mother of 5-year-old twins Max and Emme with her ex-husband Marc Anthony, Lopez wants to instill the same work ethic in them that her parents did.

“I think a lot about teaching my kids to work hard,” Lopez said.

“I’ve learned something about kids — they don’t do what you say; they do what you do.”

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