Before there was J.Lo and A-Rod or Mr. and Mrs. Marc Anthony, there was Bennifer.
In the early aughts, few couples captivated the spotlight like Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck. The pair was a tabloid fixture throughout the course of their romance, 2002 engagement and subsequent split in 2004.
And, while their personal paths have since diverged, the Oscar winner has made it clear he continues to hold Lopez, his former leading lady on-screen and off, in high regard.
As he told InStyle for a feature on his Hustlers ex, “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.”
Thirty-five years after her first working credit, Lopez is now a two-time Golden Globe nominee and one of the most beloved performers in Hollywood. According to Affleck, her meteoric rise and lasting stardom has not been by accident.