Just when we think Jennifer Lopez can't have it all, she proves us wrong again. This time, it's managing to not only maintain healthy relationships with two major exes, but also to have them speak fondly in a magazine profile of their time with the superstar years after splitting. I for one, cannot relate.
In a new cover story for InStyle, close friends, colleagues, and former costars of Lopez came together to reflect on their long-standing relationships with Lopez. Two of those people involved were none other than actor-director Ben Affleck and musician Marc Anthony. Lopez was engaged to Ben Affleck in 2002 and has since remained friendly with him. She was married to Anthony from 2004 to 2014 and shares two children with him, 13-year-old twins Max and Emme Muñiz.
Coincidentally, both Anthony and Affleck praised Lopez's work ethic when they shared personal messages about the actress and singer, and their time together. (Again, if my future ex-husbands are ever asked to submit quotes about me for a cover story one day, I hope that they sound half as genuine as the ones Affleck and Anthony submitted, see below. But, of course, they would have to unblock me on social media first.)
"The thing about Jennifer is her ability to see and understand things before they happen. Before she even brings an idea up, she has visualized it a thousand times. And if anyone says it might not be the greatest idea, she'll say, 'You just don't see it yet,'" shared Anthony. "Nine times out of 10, she'll nail it. She's the first one in the room and the last to leave. The hardest worker I've ever met. When we were together, it was quite the opposite for me. That has changed since. I learned so much from her. She's the original!"
Evan Agostini//Getty Images
Affleck's sentiment was similar, stating that he never saw someone work harder than Lopez during their relationship. "I thought I had a good work ethic, but I was completely humbled and blown away by what she was committed to doing day in and day out, the seriousness in which she took her work, the quiet and dedicated way she went about accomplishing her goals, and then how she would go back and redouble her efforts," said Affleck. "She remains, to this day, the hardest-working person I've come across in this business. She has great talent, but she has also worked very hard for her success, and I'm so happy for her that she seems, at long last, to be getting the credit she deserves."
Kevin Winter//Getty Images
Affleck also managed to ask Lopez the burning question the entire world has for the pop star: How does she manage to look so good after all these years? "Where are you keeping the fountain of youth? Why do you look the same as you did in 2003 and it kind of looks like I'm in my 40s … at best?" he quipped.
Lopez responded in the most J.Lo way possible, saying, "I don't have any [beauty] secrets except JLo Beauty—and I'm giving them all to everyone with every product. Ben is funny! He still looks pretty good too."
Bianca Betancourt is the culture editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com, where she covers all things film, TV, music, and more. When she's not writing, she loves impulsively baking a batch of cookies, re-listening to the same early-2000s pop playlist, and stalking Mariah Carey's Twitter feed.
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