Ben Affleck had nothing but praise for Jennifer Lopez as the two reunited at the New York premiere of her new movie, Kiss of the Spider Woman, on Monday night.
Affleck made a surprise appearance at the event, which he attended as a producer through his company, Artists Equity, co-founded with Matt Damon. The film is based on the Broadway musical and novel of the same name by Manuel Puig.
Speaking on stage before the screening, Affleck called Lopez “incredible” and commended director Bill Condon for doing an “amazing job.”
“My goal was to empower great artists and tell moving stories,” Affleck said. “In this movie, we did all that — and it’s an honor to be here.”
He also joked about one of the film’s stars, Tonatiuh, saying he had just entered “lifelong stardom.”
Lopez, who stars as the title character, later thanked Affleck during her own remarks, saying the film “wouldn’t have been made without Ben and without Artists Equity.”
Before the premiere, Affleck told Extra that Lopez worked “enormously hard” on the project. “You get to see all of her many gifts,” he said. “She really does it all in this movie.”
Lopez echoed those sentiments in a previous interview with CBS News Sunday Morning, recalling how Affleck helped bring her dream role to life. “I told him, ‘This is a role that I was born to play,’ and he said, ‘Okay,’ and he helped make it happen,” she said.
Kiss of the Spider Woman hits theaters on October 10 and also stars Diego Luna and Tonatiuh.
Affleck, 53, and Lopez, 56, first met in 2002 and got engaged that same year before splitting in 2004. They rekindled their romance in 2021 and married in 2022. Lopez filed for divorce in 2024, and it was finalized earlier this year — but judging by Monday’s reunion, there’s still plenty of warmth between them.
