Los Angeles, Feb 2 (IANS): Actress Jennifer Lopez says she used her new film "Parker" as a therapy to cope with divorce from musician husband Marc Anthony.

Lopez had no idea how she would portray a woman struggling through the pain of a divorce when she signed up to star opposite Jason Statham in the film because she was happily married to Anthony at the time.

However, when it came to shoot the movie, she didn't have to dig too deep to the character as she had already parted ways with Anthony, reports contactmusic.com

"The timing was crazy because when they offered me the role it hadn't happened. So I was kind of just thinking about the character and that she was at the worst time in her life," said Lopez.

"But, when we actually started shooting the film, I was in the worst time of my life, one of the worst times in my life. You know, going through my own divorce," she added.

Lopez said that the film provided her with a chance to release the heavy emotions she was trying to hide from her children.

"When you have kids and you go through something like that, you can't show them what you're going through, you know. So you have to be so strong all day... and when you're working you have to be professional all day. In front of the camera, I got to act like how I felt... It was like therapy for me," she said.