Jennifer Lopez says her upcoming film Kiss of the Spider Woman wouldn’t have existed without the support of her ex-husband, Ben Affleck.
In a recent interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Lopez revealed how she convinced Affleck and his partner Matt Damon’s company, Artists Equity, to finance the $30 million project.
“They financed it. I told him this was the role I wanted to do, and he was like, ‘Okay,’ and he helped make it happen,” Lopez said. She also admitted to telling him that it was a role she was “born to play.”
The film, directed by Bill Condon and adapted from the 1992 West End musical, opens in US theaters on October 10. Affleck, 53, is one of eight executive producers.
Lopez takes on three roles in the Lionsgate production, including Ingrid Luna, Aurora, and the Spider Woman.
“This is the first musical I was meant to do,” Lopez explained. “I got to play three very different roles, and each had distinct emotional moments. It was a blessing.”
The project also gave Lopez some distraction from her crumbling marriage to Affleck, which ended in divorce on February 21 after two years.
"It was like the best and the worst of times in a way because...every moment on set and every moment I was doing this role, I was so happy. And then back home it was not great. And it was just like, "How do I reconcile this?"
She added, "But you get through it. And you know, honestly, I have to say it was the best thing that ever happened to me because it changed me. It didn't change me. It helped me grow in a way that I needed to grow [and] become more self-aware. I'm a different person now than I was...a year and a half ago."
Lopez and Affleck, who first dated in the early 2000s before rekindling their romance in 2021, recently relisted their Beverly Hills mansion for $52 million after purchasing it for $60.85 million in 2023.