Hollywood actress and legend Jane Fonda cautioned Jennifer Lopez against committing her love story with Ben Affleck to film, voicing grave concerns at the staying power of their union after spending two decades apart.
Speaking to Jlo, 54, the Oscar winner who met singer and actress some twenty years ago when they filmed 2005 romcom Monster-in-Law together said: ‘First of all, I want you to know that I don’t entirely know why, but I feel invested in you and Ben and I really, really want this to work.
‘However, this is my concern,’ adds Fonda. ‘Like it feels too much like you’re trying to prove something instead of just living it. Every other photograph is the two of you kissing the two of you hugging.’
Fonda, 86, expressed her reservations when Lopez approached her to play a role in her music documentary, The Greatest Love Story Never Told.
The 90-minute film was released in February as part of three works centering on her breakup and reunion with Affleck, 51.
In a candid phone call featured in Jlo’s film project, The Greatest Love Story Never Told, Jane Fonda was heard voicing her concerns about the singer’s marriage and touches on rumors that Ben is ‘unhappy’
The movie was released in February as part of three works centering on her breakup and eventual reunion and marriage with husband Ben Affleck, 51
The documentary charted the making of the movie, ‘This is Me Now,’ a part fantasy, part biographical companion piece to her latest album of that name.
Jlo was so committed to the project that she invested $20million of her own money when studios and streaming platforms passed on it.
But, in concerns that now seem all too prescient, Fonda initially turned down the offer to take on a cameo role as a member of the Zodiac counsel who bears witness to Jlo’s disastrous romantic choices throughout the action in, This is Me Now.
Jlo’s efforts to persuade her to reconsider are featured in, The Greatest Love Story Never Told, which shows the telephone call in which Fonda explains her reasons for passing.
Earlier Jlo’s manager, Benny Medina is heard relaying Fonda’s deep concerns.
He said: ‘She called me and said, “I believe that everyone in the entire world is pulling for this love and the idea of how you present it is so sacrosanct and so important that it should be handled in a way that you aren’t overly flaunting it so much that it creates any form of criticism or resentment. My biggest concern is that if critics and people sort of come at her in any way.’
Jlo dismissed Fonda’s concerns and ultimately convinced her to take on the role.
But the Hollywood legend’s note of caution seemed to catch something of the discomfort expressed by Affleck himself when he noted his and his wife’s very different attitudes towards social media and the very public sharing of what, to him, is their private life.
Lopez and Fonda have been friends for nearly 20 years since co-starring in the 2005 rom-com Monster-In-Law. They are pictured together in 2011
The Oscar-winning actress, 86, agreed to appear in the film which follows Jennifer’s friends — including Fonda — as they stage an intervention amid fears she may be a sex addict following three lavish weddings
Jlo can be seen grimacing just before Fonda frankly expresses concern that she’s ‘trying to prove something’ with her marriage
The couple eloped and married in Las Vegas in July 2022 then held a second wedding that stretched across multiple days and saw Jlo don three different dresses at Affleck’s plantation property in Riceboro, Georgia one month later.
But barely two years on, rumors of divorce amid signs of marital strife abound. Affleck has moved out of the couple’s $60million Los Angeles home and while J Lo remains there solo it is reportedly back on the market.
Meanwhile Jlo abruptly pulled out of her forthcoming tour telling fans she was doing so to spend more time with ‘loved ones and family.’
And though she posted a sweet Father’s Day tribute to Affleck on Instagram, Sunday, saying ‘Our hero’ it is unclear whether the pair spent the day together.
Affleck’s ex, Jennifer Garner, 52, with whom he has three children, was seen visiting him at his Brentwood home on Sunday while Jlo was spotted visiting the day before.
And where once, as Fonda pointed out, every other picture was Affleck and J Lo hugging and kissing the PDAs have been notably absent from their recent appearances together with Affleck appearing miserable and their body language tense.
Even when she accepted the role in The Greatest Love Story Never Told, Fonda admitted to Jlo she had worried when footage of the Grammys apparently showed her chastising Affleck for looking downcast and bored in March 2023.
Fonda said: ‘I got real scared, you know, with all that s**t about the Grammys and he looks unhappy and I’m like, “Oh, my God, what’s happening?”‘
To which Jlo laughing responded: ‘Nothing! He was like, “I’ve become the symbol of the beleaguered man”.’
Affleck appears in his wife’s documentary and does his best to be supportive, but it is clear that he’s deeply uncomfortable shining such a public light on his intimate life and marriage
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck shocked fans worldwide when they were inadvertently captured having a very tense chat during the 2023 Grammys
The couple eloped and married in Las Vegas in July 2022 then held a second wedding that stretched across multiple days and saw Jlo don three different dresses, but now seem to be on the brink of divorce
But though he appears in Jlo’s recent documentary and does his best to be supportive, it is clear that Affleck is deeply uncomfortable shining such a public light on his intimate life with his wife.
‘It’s sort of like you’re going to marry a boat captain and you go, “Well I don’t like the water.” We’re just two people with different approaches trying to learn to compromise.’
Throughout their marriage Affleck has made only a handful of appearances on Jlo’s Instagram on which she regularly posts updates about her life, work, and brands.
Reflecting on his wife’s very different approach to publicity, former alcoholic Affleck compared his wife’s ‘addiction’ to social media and work to his own struggle with booze.
He said, ‘Jen felt emotionally neglected as a child. We are learning more and more it doesn’t have to be the kind of trauma of being locked in a basement for years to leave wounds on you.
‘It’s a hard thing to look at somebody whose professional life is wildly successful and who on Instagram looks like they’re living the happiest life in the world.
‘The thing you discover is like with alcohol there isn’t enough alcohol in all the liquor stores in the world to fill up that thing and in Jennifer’s case I don’t think there’s enough followers or movies or records or any of that stuff to still that part of you that still feels a longing and a pain. That’s the work that you’ve got to do on your own.’
