Everything old is new again. Ben Affleck looking sad and going viral for it seems to be a regular occurrence for the actor, writer, and director and it happened once again, and not for the first time, at an awards show recently. Sad Affleck went viral once again at last year’s Grammy Awards, as people caught him, more than once, perhaps looking like he didn’t want to be there. It’s certainly funny to a lot of people, including, it seems, Affleck. But this time it actually caused people to worry, like JLo’s friend Jane Fonda.
In a new piece, Variety speaks with Jennifer Lopez about her new movie, This is Me…Now as well as one of the film’s celebrity co-stars, Jane Fonda. Fonda has been a friend of Lopez since they appeared in Monster-In-Law and Fonda says she was initially hesitant to appear, as she wasn’t sure that a movie that celebrated the Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez relationship so loudly was the right call. Fonda was apparently quite afraid she was right when she saw what happened at the Grammys, with the Academy Award winner saying…
I got real scared, you know, with all that shit about the Grammys and he looks unhappy and I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, what’s happening?’
Affleck and Lopez have certainly had a rocky relationship. They were engaged once before only for the relationship to end, and while everything appears to be very different this time, it’s perhaps understandable why everybody else is at least a little concerned that things might go in a different direction. Fonda seems afraid that a movie that celebrates the relationship too much looks like gloating, and that the movie will age quite poorly if the relationship does as well.
However, Lopez tells her friend that “sad Affleck” is nothing to worry about. At this point it’s something the actor has dealt with on more than one occasion, and that he is laughing at himself. Lopez promises there is nothing to worry about, saying…
Nothing. He was like, ‘I’ve become the symbol of the beleaguered man.’
Whether it’s looking bored at the Grammys, sitting quietly during the press tour for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, or standing on his stoop with donuts looking frustrated, Ben Affleck has become a symbol. It’s good to know that he’s not as bored or tired as he often seems to look. And to be fair, we’ve all felt like “sad Affleck” at one time or another.
This is Me…Now has a release date on Prime Video of February 16, with Lopez starring in the semi-autobiographical musical extravaganza. Jane Fonda does appear, as does Ben Affleck, who also co-wrote the project. Whether he looks like he’s happy to be there or not, we’ll have to watch the movie to find out.