Very little is immune to the fallout that is Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s divorce, even the 2024 movie schedule. With their high profile split seeming to take place over a prolonged period of time, concerns over their joint venture Unstoppable do indeed look to be a hairy prospect, as Lopez stars in the Affleck-produced film, which is opening later this year. Some may have been shocked by this recent turn of events, but Hollywood legend Jane Fonda seemed to have called out the potential for heartbreak as early as a scene from the 2022 documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told.
This supposed moment of clarity was shared via Page Six, as this chronicle of the making of Jennifer Lopez's This Is Me…Now: A Love Story saw the multi-faceted talent lobby for the 9-to-5 star's involvement in this film. In that moment, Fonda expressed the following concerns, right from the jump:
First of all, I want you to know that, I don't entirely know why, but I feel invested in you and Ben. I really, really, really want this to work. However, this is my concern: 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.
Those concerns certainly weren’t unfounded, and Jane Fonda is someone whose own personal experiences would inform such wisdom. The Grace and Frankie icon has had her own exposure to the rigors of the press examining celebrity marriages that are seemingly in crisis, and she went through three personal divorces, as well.
Judging how relatively early in the relationship timeline of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez Fonda expressed these worries, some could see this as the ultimate warning sign that the over two year marriage had started off on the wrong foot. Fonda's reaction to 'Sad Affleck' Grammy memes earlier this year are a further sign that this issue was something that was of some importance to the legendary star.
The hypothetical silver lining in this moment from The Greatest Love Story Never Told comes thanks to the film highlighting the almost 20 year friendship between Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda. Again, these actors had only starred together in New Line’s rom-com Monster-In-Law before their working reunion on This Is Me… Now.
But that experience, which coincidentally involved its own comedic bout of wedding concerns, was apparently enough to bond the two performers together ever since. Then again, Fonda's own story about Monster-in-Law's impact have hinted at a very strong second life for the movie.
Sadly, it’s still early days in the dissolution of what some knew as Bennifer 2.0. At this point, all anyone can hope for is a mutually peaceful split that allows all involved to move on with the least amount of hardship. The recently confirmed friendship between Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez's kids prefers that outcome even more, and it also doubles down on a common thread throughout this story: in times like these, friends are very important.
If she hasn’t already, one can assume that Jane Fonda will reach out Ms. Lopez in short order, ready to listen and advise her on what’s to come. In the meantime, both The Greatest Love Story Never Told and This Is Me…Now: A Love Story are available to stream, so long as you have an active Prime Video subscription. As for Unstoppable, that movie is set to make its festival debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, with its overall theatrical release slated to start at some point this December.
