His Hollywood career had many ups and downs, and his love life was also turbulent. At 50, Ben Affleck sees things a little more relaxed – including a happy ending with his wife Jennifer Lopez.
Los Angeles – Ben Affleck can hardly stop partying. This Monday (August 15) is the 50th birthday, but the Oscar winner has been in the limelight for weeks – as a new husband alongside singer and actress Jennifer Lopez (53).
“We Did It,” Lopez hailed in an online message to her fans after their flash wedding in Las Vegas on July 17. It happened in a small wedding chapel at midnight. Affleck jokes about a photo with a white tuxedo jacket and black bow tie in a toilet room that he quickly changed here for the ceremony.
“20 Years of Patience”
With this wedding, her long-cherished wish finally came true, wrote Lopez. They are both so grateful for their love and for the “wonderful family with five great children”. This required “20 years of patience”. They have five children together from previous relationships.
The two stars had been engaged to each other a good 20 years ago, but then the wedding fell through. The “Bennifer” romance had only lasted 18 months until the end of their first engagement in January 2004. Affleck has been hit hard and often by the tabloids, whether it’s about flops at the movies, his divorce from actress Jennifer Garner, or his past alcoholism, which the actor openly admitted to. He had been to rehab clinics several times.
As he got older, Affleck told the Los Angeles Times in an interview in January. People who are 50 and who he knows are much happier because they care less about what other people think of them. “I think that’s a gift of that age,” Affleck mused, referring to his milestone anniversary. “I am not perfect. I’m not doing everything right. But I wake up feeling good about my decisions the day before, and if it doesn’t add up, I speak up immediately.”
Hollywood shooting star
At 25, Affleck was Hollywood’s whiz kid. Together with his good friend Matt Damon he won his first Oscar in 1998 – for the joint screenplay for “Good Will Hunting”. Both also star in the drama alongside Robin Williams.
Affleck was unstoppable. With “Armageddon” (1998) and “Pearl Harbor” (2001) he rose to a highly paid action star. But with the comedy flops “Love with Risk – Gigli” and “Jersey Girl” (2004) – both with Jennifer Lopez – the crash landing followed. When the ridiculous “Golden Raspberry” prize was awarded, the couple, who had already fallen apart, also received several slanderous prizes.
A second Oscar
In 2005 things changed, both privately and professionally. Affleck tied the knot with Daredevil co-star Jennifer Garner and made his directorial debut with Gone Baby Gone (2007). His third directorial work, the political thriller Argo (2013), earned him another Oscar. He outperformed cinema veterans like Steven Spielberg and Ang Lee and won the Oscar for best picture as the producer of “Argo”. The fact-based story revolved around a hilarious CIA rescue operation of US hostages in Tehran. Affleck also stars.
Affleck twice donned the Batman costume, directed by Zack Snyder, in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017). His character as a pensive bat with a penchant for the somber got a mixed reception in Hollywood.
The shooting of “Justice League” was one of his “worst experiences”, Affleck looked back on his roles in an interview with the “Los Angeles Times”. After Garner’s divorce, he went through a personal low, there were crises on set, scenes reshot and bad reviews.
Instead of blockbuster films that clear up at the box office, Affleck recently chose smaller projects with more complex characters. With Matt Damon, Adam Driver and Jodie Comer, he directed the chivalric film The Last Duel (2021), which focuses on the true story of a woman in 14th-century France. Affleck also contributed to the screenplay. George Clooney (as director) brought him in front of the camera for the best-selling film adaptation “The Tender Bar” (2021). In the true fact drama, Affleck plays a bartender who becomes his young nephew’s surrogate father.
Las Vegas, Paris and..?
After their Las Vegas wedding, Affleck and Lopez jetted to Paris for their honeymoon. There they also celebrated the singer’s 53rd birthday on July 24th. How the couple will now celebrate Affleck’s round anniversary – the actor’s spokesperson did not comment on this upon request.
Maybe Lopez will give her fans insight on Instagram. On her 52nd birthday, she posted a snap of herself on a yacht in Affleck’s arms and a kiss. In July 2021, after weeks of speculation in the gossip press, she gave a clear signal for her newly ignited romance with Affleck. dpa
