Jennifer Lopez Receives Warnings About Her Challenging New Film: Vanity Fair

Written by Savannah Walsh

Jennifer Lopez had recently initiated a pitch for her forthcoming film, an unusual magical adventure later titled This Is Me…Now: A Love Story, an Amazon original. She was initially met with widespread skepticism, including from herself. In a cover story with Variety, Lopez revealed the extent of the disbelief her ambitious three-fold project met. This project includes an hour-long musical film and possibly her last album, both released on February 16, and a documentary called The Greatest Love Story Never Told releasing on February 27. The title of the documentary alludes to love letters written to Lopez by her current husband, Ben Affleck, somewhat ironic as Affleck notes that making a record seems akin to telling the story.

The Variety describes Lopez's self-funded $20 million project, which faced resistance at every turn, as "a partly animated musical journey" exploring Lopez's romantic ups and downs before rekindling her romance with Affleck. They called off their engagement soon after planning their wedding in 2003, but reconnected and finally wed almost 20 years later. Affleck admits, without going into specifics, that revealing private details of their relationship "was something of an adjustment for me.”

Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Lopez's producing partner, vocally expressed her unease about the venture, fearing it to be overly personal. Despite Lopez's assurances, she never quite managed to convince Goldsmith-Thomas, who remained apprehensive throughout. Jane Fonda, a former costar of Lopez's, initially resisted appearing in the film expressing similar concerns but was convinced to join Lopez in her "zodiac love council," an ensemble acting as a guiding force for her character through the movie. Not all stars agreed to participate in the project, with Khloé Kardashian being one high-profile figure who declined, according to Variety.

The film's direction is under the stewardship of music video director Dave Meyers, with a screenplay co-written by Lopez and Matt Walton. However, Lopez credited Affleck's guidance through the film-making process as the driving factor. Affleck's approval of the film was seemingly all Lopez sought, adding, "Honestly, I don’t care what happens now,” and describing his praise as the greatest compliment she could receive.