Jennifer Lopez is a superstar recording artist with a number of albums under her belt. With such a prolific career, the singer decided to do something different to celebrate her latest and most personal album yet, This Is Me…Now. The compilation is somewhat of a continuation of her 2002 album, This Is Me…Then, which chronicled her first romance with Ben Affleck. The follow-up revisits their romance, and how they found their way back to each other after 20 years apart. Lopez decided to make a visual film to release in tandem with the album, which features many famous faces. That includes Affleck himself, who is unrecognizable in his role. Now, the director is explaining why they hid the Oscar winner’s famous face.
This Is Me… Now: A Love Story is a surrealist take on Jennifer Lopez’s journey throughout her love life, featuring music from the album and commentary on her public image. The film is directed by Dave Meyers, who approached the film as an artistic personal piece about one woman's journey in and out of love. Ben Affleck’s presence is essential, within the movie and Lopez’s life, yet he's only featured in small cameo appearances and at one point, disguised as a newscaster named Rex Stone. As to why he decided to portray the star this way, Meyers told People:
We did hem and haw on the opening scene, but we really did not want to end it with, the whole journey of love was just to get back to Ben. That was purposeful, because everything Jen was telling me was about her own personal maturity and what she’s gone through and learned about herself. That’s the thing that people will mostly relate to.
By only featuring snippets of the movie star throughout the film, it allowed the creative team to communicate a metaphorical message about JLo’s enduring relationship with her partner. Even in their time apart, he was always “there” in the back of her mind and in her heart. While silly and very funny to see A-lister in such wild getup, it was important commentary in regard to his wife's journey. Meyers continued to explain:
One of the early thoughts that I was playing with [with] Jen was that we had Ben playing lots of characters, but always in disguise, so it was like he was always ever-present. What I felt when I heard that there was a book of 20 years of their correspondence, I’m like, God, what an amazing sort of heirloom to know that exists. And so to me, in the film, that was Ben being ever-present in her life. And so budget got cut and one thing led to another and it became just one character. And we spread him out throughout the film as this sort of ever-present energy.
This may be a strange way to utilize one of the biggest movie stars in the world but, for Jennifer Lopez and the rest of the creative team, it seems like this was the best fit for the material. And critics seem to agree, as This Is Me…Now: A Love Story is receiving mostly positive reviews. Some are calling the movie campy and very out there, but what else can one expect from such a massive artistic presence like Lopez?
The project is not only incredibly personal for the singer but also seems like a labor of love for both her and her husband. JLo recently revealed that Ben Affleck was ever-present throughout the making of the movie, as he even served as a co-writer. The Argo director even gave her advice on the visuals. Additionally, Affleck has opened up about Lopez helping him with his own movie projects as well, and the two seem to make a great team. The “ever present” nature of Affleck throughout Lopez’s life in the movie seems to continue as they live their real life as a married couple. And, if you ask me, the film's metaphor is an appropriate reflection of their relationship dynamic.
You can see the couple together again in This Is Me…Now: A Love Story, which is now available to stream using a Prime Video subscription. You can also check out Jennifer Lopez's corresponding album, as it's now available to stream on Spotify and Apple Music.
