Ben Affleck on Jennifer Lopez: She had her biggest hit movie at 50. Thats baller

Publish date: 2024-07-10

Ben Affleck, suiting up and showing up, as we say. Threaded below are some tidbits from my interview with him that didn't make the story: https://t.co/a1UyrBbtdI

— Brooks Barnes (@brooksbarnesNYT) February 20, 2020

Ben Affleck’s big interview with the New York Times, and the start of his redemption tour, dropped last week. He then went on to do an interview with Diane Sawyer which aired in two parts on Good Morning America. I only covered the first part of that as I’m getting Affleck fatigue, but the second part is here. He said he’s not on dating apps, although he didn’t name Raya, and that he’s looking for a committed relationship and wants to stay sober. Sawyer also read a letter Ben wrote for Jen in which he thanked her for being a steady force in their children’s lives, basically. It turns out that Ben gave a similar letter about Jen to the NY Times which did not make it into the piece. He also praised Jennifer Lopez, said she should have received an Oscar nomination for Hustlers, and that he’s still in touch with her “periodically.” Those quotes were cut from the story and we know about them because the journalist, Brooks Barnes, shared them on Twitter. Here they are:

Ben Affleck, suiting up and showing up, as we say. Threaded below are some tidbits from my interview with him that didn’t make the story:

“The first and main thing that I have to say to Jennifer Garner in public or in private is thank you. I want to be really clear about how much I respect her and how much I value the fact that she works with me in co-parenting.”

On past flame Jennifer Lopez … “She should have been nominated. She’s the real thing. I keep in touch periodically with her and have a lot of respect for her. How awesome is it that she had her biggest hit movie at 50? That’s f-king baller.”

Affleck’s character in “The Way Back” taps the top of each beer in a distinctive way before popping it open. “That came from, um, research. I’m not really an alcoholic. I’m a method actor.” (Joking obvs)

“I only really feel good about maybe 25 percent of the movies that I have made.” What’s a surprising example? “Extract,” a Mike Judge film from 2009. “I took a big swing and played a weird character. I really like the way it turned out.”

[From Twitter]

I’ve never even heard of that movie, Extract. I had this job in 2009 too. It was a comedy with Mila Kunis, Jason Bateman, JK Simmons and Kristen Wiig. It has middling rotten tomatoes scores and is available on demand for Showtime, Starz and Direct TV subscribers, but I digress because it’s rare I haven’t heard of a film.

Of course everyone is interested in what he’s saying about Jennifer Lopez, but he’s said before that he keeps in touch with her. It is interesting that he’s still doing it. He also blamed her, repeatedly, for tabloid interest in him and his subsequent career slump after Gigli. That was his whole narrative when he was promoting Gone Girl. Matt Damon half blamed her for it too. Kaiser and I completely agree that Lopez deserved an Oscar nomination for Hustlers, she was phenomenal and before the nominations came out I thought she was a shoo-in for the Oscar. (We talk about that in Podcast #30 at 22 minutes in.) Instead Laura Dern won it for a cartoon character of a performance in a joyless movie.

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