Jennifer Lopez is looking back on a "tough time" in her life, more than a year after she filed for divorce from Ben Affleck. The "Jenny from the Block" singer, now 56, opened up about her divorce in an interview with "CBS Sunday Morning," while discussing her role in the highly anticipated movie musical "Kiss of the Spider Woman," which is set to hit theaters on October 10. The film wrapped production roughly two months before Lopez filed for divorce from Affleck in August 2024.
When asked how she managed the personal turmoil around the time she was filming the movie, Lopez chuckled and replied, "Barely. It was tough. It was a really tough time." She added that making the film became a sanctuary during that difficult period. "It was the best and the worst of times," she reflected. "Every moment on set, every moment I was portraying this role, I was so happy. But then back home, it wasn't great. It was like, 'Oh, how do I reconcile this?'"
"But you get through it," she continued with a tone of resilience. "Honestly, I have to say, it was the best thing that ever happened to me, because it transformed me—well, not transformed, but it helped me grow in a way I needed to grow, to become more self-aware. I'm a different person now than I was last year."
Lopez, who recently wrapped her Up All Night tour in August, also shared that she's currently in a "very good" place and is "able to enjoy things more" now.
Lopez and Affleck tied the knot in 2022 after rekindling their romance the previous year. The pair originally dated in the 2000s and became a tabloid sensation, earning the infamous nickname "Bennifer." After getting engaged in 2002, they postponed their wedding in 2003 amid overwhelming media attention before eventually parting ways.
Following their split, Lopez was married to Marc Anthony from 2004 to 2014 and was engaged to Alex Rodriguez from 2019 to 2021. Meanwhile, Affleck was married to Jennifer Garner from 2005 to 2018.
Lopez and Affleck finalized their divorce in January 2025.
In "Kiss of the Spider Woman," Lopez stars as the fictional movie star Ingrid Luna, in an adaptation of the stage musical of the same name. Diego Luna and Tonatiuh also feature in the film. The "Let's Get Loud" singer has described the project as a dream come true, as she's long aspired to star in a movie musical.
Artists Equity, the production company co-founded by Affleck and Matt Damon, financed "Kiss of the Spider Woman," and Lopez told CBS that the film wouldn't have been made without her ex-husband. "I'll always give him that credit," she said.
Affleck had previously stated in a March interview with GQ that there was "no scandal" behind his and Lopez's divorce. "The truth is, when you ask someone, 'Hey, what happened?' Well, there's no: 'This is what happened.' It's just a story about people trying to navigate their lives and relationships in ways that we all normally do," he explained. "And as you get older, which is true for me and I assume for most people, there's no 'So-and-so did this' or 'This was the defining moment.'"
Lopez has been generating Academy Awards buzz ever since "Kiss of the Spider Woman" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January. However, she told "CBS Sunday Morning" that she's not dwelling on the possibility of an Oscar nomination, quipping, "I learned my lesson last time."
In 2019, Lopez was widely predicted to receive an Academy Award nomination for her role in "Hustlers" but was unexpectedly overlooked. She later opened up about the sting of being excluded in the 2022 documentary "Halftime," saying that she "really started to think I was going to get nominated" and "got my hopes up."
"It's wonderful to be in the conversation that you're doing work that people acknowledge and love," she told CBS. "That's enough. It's not that you can't want more or that you don't want to stand up there and say thank you. Of course, we all want that. But I've realized that I don't need it in the way I maybe thought when I was younger. Not that I wouldn't love it!"
