Jennifer Lopez Is Mother! See Her Return to Action in Trailer for Netflix's 'The Mother' (Exclusive)
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"I knew Jennifer was the only actress for the role," director Niki Caro tells PEOPLE
Jennifer Lopez is back in action.
The Golden Globe nominee stars in the first full trailer for her new Netflix movie The Mother, shared exclusively with PEOPLE. In it, Lopez 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."
Director Niki Caro, who made Disney's live-action Mulan, tells PEOPLE that The Mother is a "rare combination of high-octane action and genuine emotion" — and Lopez, 53, was up for the challenge.
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"The only thing that surprised me was that Jennifer hadn't been an action movie hero her entire career," she says of Lopez, who last showed off her action chops in the 2002 thriller Enough.
"Jennifer brings her legendary skill and precision to the action elements, but also brings her strength as a dramatic actor and her experience as a mother right to the heart of the movie," adds Caro, 56. "I knew Jennifer was the only actress for the role."
The movie's cast also includes Joseph Fiennes, Lucy Paez, Omari Hardwick, Paul Raci and Gael Garcia Bernal.
The director says she wanted to make the new film because it puts a mom at the center of a globe-trotting action spectacle. A mom who is "hard-wired to protect her child," to be exact.
"Oftentimes mothers in movies are appendages to other, more interesting characters. This time the mother is front and center, and she is badass," says Caro. "Having Jennifer Lopez in the role, at the height of her powers, is a gift to mothers and audiences everywhere."
The Mother is on Netflix May 12 for Mother's Day weekend.
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