Jennifer Lopez says women 'hide' struggles from their children - after ex Ben Affleck praises her
Jennifer Lopez has opened up about the struggles women often "hide" from their children. The 55 year old actress was speaking at a London screening event for her new film, Unstoppable.
The biopic, produced by Artists Equity – a company owned by her ex-husband Ben Affleck and his close pal Matt Damon, was shown at Cineworld Leicester Square. In the film, J-Lo portrays Judy Robles, who became a mum at 16 when she gave birth to Anthony Robles (played by Jharrel Jerome). Despite being born with one leg, Anthony went on to become a wrestling champ and author. During a Q&A session at the screening, Jennifer admitted that she initially thought Judy was a "smaller character" in the story, until she met her and realised the story was as much about Anthony as it was about his mother.
She also said the film is "very relatable" for women dealing with "challenging relationships". "I think a lot of women have gone through that, and she (Judy) and I talked a lot," she added.
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"We got to know each other. I wanted her to really feel safe with me (while) sharing details, because as great as the story is, without the struggle, that’s what makes it great."
Jennifer also revealed: "There was a whole different story there that she was living, that you hide from your children, you protect your children from that."
“But I thought it was really, really important to not just play the mom who the kids knew, but to play the woman who raised these children and where she found her own strength and her own struggles, and was able to put that and make sure her children… benefited from her life experience, as opposed to being brought down by the things that she was struggling with.
“And for me, it was just a full, beautiful character to play, and I really enjoyed kind of losing myself and… I didn’t want anybody to see me in it. I wanted them to see Judy in it.”
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The Robles family also made an appearance at the screening. Jennifer was beaming on the red carpet, donning a stunning white fluffy jacket and halter neck dress, paired with a matching white clutch bag.
She previously attended the premiere of Unstoppable at the Toronto International Film Festival after filing divorce proceedings, bringing an end to months of speculation over her marital status with 52-year-old Affleck. They tied the knot in Las Vegas in July 2022 after rekindling their relationship following their high-profile split in 2004.
Lopez has two children with her former husband, singer Marc Anthony, and has been married four times.
Despite their divorce, Ben has been singing the praises of Jennifer- the 52 year old actor gushed about J-Lo's performance in Unstoppable.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Ben compared Unstoppable to another current project, the Cillian Murphy-led movie Small Things Like These, saying: "Unstoppable' is a very different movie than this but in a way it’s similarly rooted in the passion of really talented artists. " He went on to commend the entire cast, including Don Cheadle, Jharrel Jerome, and Bobby Cannavale, before adding: "Jennifer is spectacular."
