Ben Affleck gushed about working with ‘best friend’ Jennifer Lopez in ‘Unstoppable’ pre-divorce
In Hollywood land, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have once again teamed up on a movie.
The exes collaborated on the upcoming drama “Unstoppable,” produced by Affleck’s production company Artists Equity, which he co-founded with Matt Damon.
Meanwhile, Lopez is one of the many star-studded cast members in the sports biopic.
Both Affleck and Damon also serve as producers on the movie.
In March 2023, Affleck, 52, took a moment to gush over working with his then-wife while talking to CBS Sunday Mornings.
“What fun, what a joy to do something with her,” he said, “see her be great, go to work with your wife, go to work with your best friend.”
Affleck continued, “If you don’t like who you’re working with, and if you have difficulty or trouble at work, I think it’s one of the things that can really cause depression, anxiety and pain for people. And conversely, [if] you love the people at work, you probably have a pretty good life, you know?”
He teased, “Can’t make it look like she’s doing it as a favor to me, but actually she is.”
Lopez, 55, has also openly talked about working with the “Air” director — prior to filing for divorce after two years of marriage on Tuesday.
When asked by “Variety” earlier this year if she would ever appear in another film with Affleck, the singer replied, “Maybe, in the right thing.”
Lopez added, “I mean, we love working together and being together, so maybe.”
“Unstoppable” follows the life of wrestler Anthony Robles, who was born with one leg and won a national championship in 2011 while at Arizona State University.
Jharrel Jerome (“Moonlight”) stars as Robles alongside Bobby Cannavale, Don Cheadle and Michael Pe?a. Lopez plays Robles’ mom, Judy.
However, according to Page Six, the pair will avoid any run-ins on the red carpet at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival, which will take place in two weeks, when their project debuts.
A source told the outlet that Lopez will attend the film festival for the movie’s Sept. 6 premiere, but Affleck will not.
Earlier this month, the Grammy winner posted a photo from a scene between her and Jerome to her Instagram Story, tagging Amazon MGM Studios and producer Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas.
Who didn’t make the shout-out? Well, fans noticed neither Affleck nor his production company were mentioned.
But this wasn’t the first time Lopez and Affleck had been tied together in their careers, as they had previously starred together in the 2003 romantic-comedy “Gigli” and “Jersey Girl” in 2004.
Affleck has been vocal about working on “Gigli” with Lopez — whom he dated from 2002 to 2004 — the movie that didn’t quite go as planned.
“The truth about that movie and what it taught me was how much everything around a movie sort of dictates the way people see it,” he told Entertainment Weekly in 2022. “But for being a movie that’s such a famous bomb and a disaster, very few people actually saw the movie. It doesn’t work, by the way. It’s a sort of horse’s head in a cow’s body.”
He explained about his romance with Lopez at the time, “The studio at the time, because I had begun having this relationship with Jennifer Lopez, which was selling a lot of magazines and appeared to generate a lot of enthusiasm, they just predictably latched onto, ‘They want a romantic comedy. They want the two of them together. More of that!’ And it was just like that SNL sketch.”
Although Affleck admitted other films have done worse than “Gigli” at the box office, it is always talked about due to the tabloid frenzy of their romance.
“It’s just that it became a story in and of itself. The funny name, the Jennifer Lopez romance and overexposure of that, it was kind of a perfect storm,” he recalled. “And I remember talking to [the director] the Friday it came out and I was likeit’s just spectacular, it’s a tsunami, it couldn’t be worse. This is as bad as it gets.”
As for the positives of the movie? Well, along with discovering directing was “the real love of my professional life,” Affleck shared, “I did get to meet Jennifer, the relationship with whom has been really meaningful to me in my life.”
After rekindling their romance in 2021, the couple tied the knot in July 2022 at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas before saying “I do” for a second time at Affleck’s home in Riceboro, Georgia, the following month.
Lopez filed for divorce in Los Angeles County Superior Court on their two-year wedding anniversary without an attorney. The artist listed the date of separation as April 26, 2024.
