Jennifer Lopez says the making of her new movie, “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” was the best and the worst of times. Lopez, 56, was in the midst of a separation from Ben Affleck while production was underway during the summer of 2024.
Filming wrapped that June, and by August, she had filed for divorce after just two years of marriage to the Oscar winner. The filing was finalized in January 2025.
In a new interview for “CBS Sunday Morning,” Lopez shared that she was “so happy” on set, but “back home it was not great.”
Affleck and Lopez previously called off their first engagement in 2002. The former lovebirds went on to marry and start families with their respective exes, Jennifer Garner, with whom Affleck shares three children, and Marc Anthony, with whom Lopez shares twins Max and Emme.
The A-listers reconnected in 2021 and wed the following year. Now, Lopez says she has made it to the other side of the romantic disappointment. “It was the best thing that ever happened to me because it changed me. It helped me grow in a way that I needed to grow,” she explained.
The actress feels she is more self-aware and a “different person” after the heartache. “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” though, remains one of the few tethers she and Affleck continued to share post-divorce. The actor is one of the film’s executive producers.
“The movie wouldn’t have been made if it wasn’t for him and Artist Equity… I will always give him that credit,” said Lopez about Affleck and Matt Damon’s production company, which financed the film. “I told him that this was a role that I was born to play, and he was like, ‘OK.’”
The new interview has reenergized online discourse about the famous exes. A critic of Lopez’s in the Daily Mail’s comments section about the interview remarked, “She’s so desperate, she’d take him back in a minute if she could. I don’t know who she thinks she’s fooling. She can’t shut up about him, she really thinks she’ll get another chance with him. Pathetic.”
@jlo IS ALREADY DIVORCED from @benaffleck. She is an absolutely free, beautiful, sexy, rich and powerful woman. To be quick, she must have given him money in the settlement because that's all he wanted from her. Next time you talk about #jlo, DO NOT MENTION #benaffleck. Thank you https://t.co/Vi68cyIa0n
— ClaraLilica (@clara_lilica) January 27, 2025
A second reaction to the “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” singer’s reflections suggested their separation was the best thing for Affleck, who has been smiling more since their split.
The comment read, “Also best thing that happened to him, great to see him happy and smiling.”
A third individual suspected the union was one of career convenience. They wrote, “So you marrried Ben just so you can say this ? Ok got it LOL.”
Neither Lopez nor Affleck has publicly launched new relationships, nor have they revealed what was the undoing of their second go-round at everlasting love. Affleck, in particular, has been rather coy or does not discuss their separation in interviews like his ex-wife. “Kiss of the Spider Woman” lands in theaters on Oct. 10.
