Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck once both opened up about what it was like meeting each other for the first time.

Ben Affleck first worked with Jennifer Lopez in the feature Gigli. But after their debut film, Affleck couldn’t get enough of working with Lopez on film sets.

Ben Affleck wrote an ad professing how much he loved being around Jennifer Lopez

Gigli was famously responsible for kicking off the whole Bennifer saga. The 2003 comedy mob feature originally brought Lopez and Affleck together. And although they played a couple in the movie, Affleck insisted that their romance didn’t bloom while filming.

“Jennifer and I didn’t become romantically involved until after the movie was over, but in the course of making the movie, we did strike up a nice, easy friendship,” Affleck once told BBC. “We got along well and that makes it a lot easier. Look, it’s much easier to kiss someone you’re friendly with rather than someone you loathe, you know? Like when you can hardly bear to be around them?”

Given the chemistry they displayed in the movie, however, it’s easy to see how some figured they were a real-life couple during the feature. Lopez was in a relationship and marriage with dancer Cris Judd at the time. So if Lopez had any feelings toward Affleck back then, she couldn’t act on them. Still, looking back on her time on Gigli, Lopez remembered enjoying her co-star’s company a lot.

“The first time meeting him in that film was at the read-through. They did a read-through of the whole thing and I remember just walking in and, I think he was outside smoking a cigarette. I saw him, we just talked for a minute, and then I sat down and did the read-through. I don’t remember that much about it, but I remember being on set with him every day. And loving it,” Lopez told Variety not too long ago.

Affleck shared similar sentiments towards Lopez. According to The New York Times, Lopez was awarded ShoWest’s Female Star of the Year in 2002. The publication noted that several celebrities bought ads in other Hollywood publications to congratulate Lopez’s win. Affleck especially sang Lopez’s praises at the time in an ad he bought for The Hollywood Reporter.

“You have shown kindness, dedication, diligence, humility, graciousness of spirit, beauty in courage, great empathy, astonishing talent, real poise, and true grace…It has been nothing but an honor and a pleasure to work with you. I only wish I were lucky enough to be in all your movies,” Affleck wrote.

Jennifer Lopez shared not too long ago that she wanted to do a sequel to ‘Gigli’

Gigli seemed to become known more for birthing Bennifer than it did for the quality of its story. The feature received below-average reviews from critics and failed to meet box-office expectations. Even Affleck agreed that Gigli wasn’t one of his best efforts. But he hoped he and Lopez would make up for Gigli’s failures with their second film Jersey Girl.

“Jersey Girl is… you know, Gigli wasn’t a good movie. That’s why it didn’t work. Yes, there was a triangulation of other factors at play, the extensive tabloid and whatever else in terms of me and Jennifer, a lot of negative buzz on the Internet… then the movie wasn’t good. So we got buried, but ultimately it’s about the movie,” Affleck once told IGN.

In an interview with Vogue, however, Lopez couldn’t help but poke fun at their critically panned film by stating she’d like to make a sequel.

Lopez and Affleck haven’t appeared onscreen together since Jersey Girl. But they did work together recently on the film Unstoppable. Affleck produced the 2024 biographic film with his longtime friend Matt Damon, with Lopez starring in the sports drama .After their recent divorce, however, Unstoppable might be the last time the pair will collaborate on a project. But only time will tell.