Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck attended the Los Angeles premiere of her 'This Is Me...Now: A Love Story' at the Dolby Theatre on Tuesday night.
Derek Hough, America Ferrera, Fat Joe, and Xochitl Gomez are among the other celebrities who attended the red carpet debut on Tuesday. ‘This Is Me...Now: A Love Story,’ is a musical and visual retelling of the real events, and a sequel to Lopez’s 2002 album ‘This Is Me...Then.’
The project, which included appearances from stars such as Trevor Noah and Jane Fonda, has been a long time coming for Lopez who revealed at a press conference last week that her real-life love story with Affleck pushed her to complete it. "I was like, 'I don't write, I don't do this.' He was like, 'You do, you write, you direct, you produce, you choreograph, you do all the things. Start stepping into that, start owning a little bit of who you are,'" she recalled Affleck telling her.
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez | Photo Credit: JORDAN STRAUSS
The couple married in July 2022, more than a year after rekindling their relationship. They first dated for two years in the early 2000s before calling it quits just days before their 2004 wedding. Director Dave Meyers remarked at the press conference that their revived passion influenced much of the film's direction, and he specifically mentioned one scene in which she was working as a construction worker at a heart factory, as per People.
"Metaphorically, it is true," Meyers said. "That stemmed from her telling me the pain that she's been in, specifically the pain that she went through when she broke up with Ben the first time. There was a lot of honesty that was shared in that first meeting, and so the heart factory became sort of a Titanic-level meltdown, which was a metaphor for what she was giving me as far as her truth."
Jennifer Lopez | Photo Credit: MARIO ANZUONI
Lopez and Affleck also recently appeared together in a Super Bowl commercial in which Affleck formed a boy band called the DunKings with friend Matt Damon and New England Patriots icon Tom Brady. An extended version of the ad begins with the Oscar winner asking Lopez for help producing some beats. "Do you have any time today if I wanted to squeeze by and like...?" he asked. As he trailed off, it's clear his wife has no interest. "I understand," he added. "Jen, you know, not the only one with a dream."
