Jennifer Lopez Opened Up About Ben Affleck’s Constructive Criticism When He Watches Her Movies For The First Time

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are undoubtedly one of the most multitalented couples in Hollywood. And for J.Lo, it sounds as if there’s a ton of benefits that come with working in the same industry as her husband.

Right now, Jennifer is promoting her upcoming Netflix movie, The Mother, in which she stars as an assassin who comes out of hiding to protect her daughter.

Ahead of the film’s release May 12, J.Lo spoke with E! News about the thriller and reflected on the grueling training that went into preparing for the action-packed role.

“I did a lot of fight training ... The fights were very choreographed … I kind of approached it like a dance,” she told the outlet. “I did the cybertraining as well, the gun training, the putting together the rifle, all of those kinds of things. … I forgot how intense it was.”

And while it sounds as if the singer had the physical aspect of the role very much under control, there were other areas where she was eager to turn to Ben for some helpful tips.

When asked who is the first person she asks to watch the first cut of her movies, Jennifer replied without hesitation that her husband is her first port of call.

Of course, given that he is the proud recipient of two Academy Awards — one for Best Original Screenplay in 1998 and another for Best Picture in 2013 — Ben is a pretty obvious choice to offer some constructive criticism.

“I show it to Ben, honestly, because he’s so good at it,” she said, explaining that she’s always eager to get his unfiltered feedback when it comes to filmmaking.

“I’m like, ‘What do you see? What do you think?’ Because the first cut of a movie is not the last cut of a movie,” she said. “The first cut of the movie is the first cut of the movie, and then it goes through a whole incarnation after that.”

Jennifer added, “The first cut I was like, ‘You wanna see this with me or you wanna wait?’ And he's like, ‘No, let's watch it.’”

Praising the Air director, J.Lo went on to say that he picks up on the small details that anyone else might miss, gushing that “he always has amazing insight and sees things about character and about story, being a writer himself.”

Fans will have to wait a few more days to see the movie, but luckily for Jennifer — and perhaps thanks to Ben’s expert insight — people already seem excited that she’s returning to the action genre.

“I love her action roles! Anaconda, Enough and now The Mother!! Yes!!! Go JLO!!” one user wrote in the comments section of the trailer on YouTube.

“I love when she does serious movies like this!” echoed someone else, while another fan celebrated that the singer has taken on an action-filled script that utilizes her skills and physicality.

Despite a decade-spanning film career, the multi-hyphenate garnered more praise than ever before for her acting skills back in 2019 thanks to her performance in the critically acclaimed movie Hustlers, in which she starred as an exotic dancer.

The praise was so widespread that J.Lo was expected to cop her first-ever Oscar nomination — however, she ultimately missed out, leaving many fans and critics in shock.

Addressing the snub during an interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2020 soon after the nominations were announced, Jennifer admitted she was left disheartened after all the buzz.

“I was a little sad because there was a lot of buildup to it. There were so many articles. I got so many good notices — more than ever in my career — and there was a lot of, ‘She’s going to get nominated for an Oscar. It’s going to happen; if she doesn’t, you’re crazy,’” she said at the time.

“I’m reading all the articles going, ‘Oh my god, could this happen?’ And then it didn’t and I was like, ‘Ouch.’ It was a little bit of a letdown,” she added.

At the time of the controversy, Ben and J.Lo had yet to rekindle their relationship. However, that didn’t stop the actor from speaking out in support of his then-ex, calling out the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for failing to recognize the milestone performance.

“She should have been nominated. She’s the real thing,” he said in 2020. “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 fucking baller.”

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