LOS ANGELES • Early in her career, Jennifer Lopez said a director asked her to expose her breasts.

She said no, the singer-actress told Harper's Bazaar magazine in an interview published on Thursday.

Lopez, 48, did not identify the man or the movie.

But turning him down proved to be an ordeal for her.

"When I did speak up, I was terrified. I remember my heart beating out of my chest, thinking: 'What did I do? This man is hiring me.'

"It was one of my first movies. But in my mind, I knew the behaviour wasn't right," she added.

She credited her upbringing in New York City's tough Bronx borough in the 1970s for her refusal.

"I think, ultimately, the Bronx in me was, like, 'Nah, we're not having it,'" she said.

Lopez, who began her career as a dancer and singer, has chalked up other career milestones, including being a judge on talent show American Idol and bagging a lead role in the television police drama Shades Of Blue.

She has gone on to be a producer, with credits including talent show World Of Dance and upcoming romantic comedy movie Second Act.

REUTERS