Ben Affleck Raves Jennifer Lopez Was Born for ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ Role (Exclusive)

Ben Affleck showed support for his ex-wife Jennifer Lopez at the NYC premiere of “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” which his company Artists Equity produced.

The exes were all smiles as they reunited on the red carpet for the first time since their divorce.

“Extra’s” Mona Kosar Abdi spoke with Ben, who raved that this was the kind of role Jennifer was “born to play.” She also spoke with Jennifer, who opened up about the project and Ben’s support.

Affleck said, “She’s amazing in the movie. I just can’t wait for the audiences to see the movie. I’m as proud of this movie as any that I’ve ever been involved with. I’m really, really excited to be here tonight.”

Affleck praised Jennifer’s work ethic, saying, “It was obvious to me very early on in Jennifer’s involvement in this that she was gonna die or be great. You know, she just was gonna give it her all, and she did. She worked enormously hard. This role, you get to see, like, all of her many gifts. You know, she’s somebody that grew up watching, you know, the classic musicals and, obviously, can do contemporary dance and all that.”

He continued, “She really does it all in this movie, the acting and the singing and the dancing and kind of embodies the whole spirit of it.”

Ben emphasized, “She’s fabulous, although that shouldn’t be any surprise to anyone.”

Affleck isn’t letting the Oscar buzz surrounding the movie go to his head, though! He commented, “I like try to develop my own standard for what I really like and think is great, and as such, I’m enormously proud of the movie. I always will be. I love this movie.”

Meanwhile, Lopez talked about the movie and getting to step into the shoes of Chita Rivera and Sônia Braga.

She said, “All I thought when I read the script was, ‘Oh, my God, is this real? Is this happening? I’m gonna get to sing and dance and act and play an old Hollywood movie star.’ Like, the whole thing for me, and play three characters. What’s happening here? It was such a layered, beautiful role.”

“It was amazing. It was really just something I can’t even explain,” she emphasized. “You wait for things like this when you do what I do for a living.”

Lopez praised her Ben, saying, “It was a hard move to get made, and if it wasn’t for Artists Equity and Ben financing it with Mohari, then it wouldn’t have been made.”

As for her mom and kids being at the premiere, Jennifer commented, “My family for me is really the thing that made me who I am, that helps me be able to survive in the chaos of this business. You know ,they know who I am and that’s all that matters to me — my kids, my mom, you know, my loved ones, my team. They know who I am, and that for me is such a groundling presence in my life that I’m able to do and withstand so much and stick to the passion of what I love to do and keep my eye on the prize all the time — keep my eye on, you know, the important things, which is love and family, and their support is everything for me.”

Jennifer also had a touching reaction to Mona showing her an “Extra” throwback interview from 1995, when she was working on “Selena.”

Lopez reflected, “I didn’t even realize what my life was gonna be at that time. I knew that I. had landed a dream role, and here I am so many years later with another dream role. They don’t come along all the time like that.”

She added, “I really do think that this is such an important movie at an important time in our country, who is struggling with hatred and Latinos and the queer community being targeted. It reminds people that love is the answer, not hate, and I’m very proud to be a part of it.”