Here's how Ben Affleck is featured in “This Is Me...Now: A Love Story”
It goes far beyond that Dunkin' Donuts commercial.
Considering that This Is Me...Then was in many ways a tribute to Jennifer Lopez's first relationship with Ben Affleck, it's not surprising that This Is Me...Now does the same for their romance now, 20 years later.
But how does Affleck actually feature in Prime Video's cinematic companion — This Is Me...Now: A Love Story — to Lopez's new album? Not in the way you'd expect.
Affleck's most notable appearance is as Rex Stone, a cable news pundit cut from the same cloth of presenters as Bill O'Reilly, Lawrence O'Donnell, and Brian Williams. As Stone, Affleck is heavily obscured by prosthetics, a wig, and makeup. Additionally, he hides his familiar New England cadence behind a Texan drawl. In fact, he is so unrecognizable, that it's not immediately evident who is playing Stone (and only the credits make it clear that it's Affleck).
We generally see him in the background, delivering alarmist headlines and provocative talking points on television while Lopez's fictionalized version of herself wrestles with her romantic triumphs and failures.
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Ben AffleckThat is, however, not Affleck's only appearance. His chin and chest also make a cameo. As the film draws to a close, we see Lopez in attendance at a wedding — having finally successfully learned to love herself, she meets an intriguing new partner.
He's meant to be mysterious, as we see only a small portion of his body — but Lopez and audiences would recognize that bearded jawline and broad chest anywhere. It's obviously Affleck, even though we never hear him speak or see his full. face. Still, the implications are potent. Now that this dramatized version of Lopez has done the work to love herself, she is ready to meet (or even reconnect?) with the love of her life.
The credits also reveal that it's Affleck riding the motorcycle at the opening of the film (as seen in the trailer, below). There, we also never get a clear view of his face. Lopez holds onto Affleck on the back of the bike, enjoying romantic bliss as they race across a watery vista until they hit a bump, spin out, and suffer a near-fatal accident.
Lopez frames this incident as her great heartbreak that charts her on a course of romantic misadventure as she tries to heal that broken heart. The fact that it is Affleck in both the opening and closing of the film, representing both Lopez's biggest heartbreak and her hope for happily-ever-after, speaks to how she views their romance — and how it bookends her life through the two This Is Me... albums.
This Is Me...Now: A Love Story is now streaming on Prime Video, and a making-of documentary — The Greatest Love Story Never Told — will be released on Feb. 27, also on Prime Video.
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