PEARL Harbour star Ben Affleck told TV interviewers he would be 'delighted' to attend ex-fiancée Jennifer López's wedding – in perfect Spanish.
Talking of his upcoming film The Way Back, the 47-year-old star was frank and open on the talk show El Gordo y La Flaca, on the US-based Hispanic TV channel Univisión.
Affleck's character is a celebrity who could have been a legend, but fell dramatically from grace due to his addictions – the film focuses on how he attempts to claw back from the brink.
Speaking to – and being spoken to - entirely in Spanish, Affleck revealed his own battle with drink had given him plenty of background knowledge to help him in the rôle.
“I wanted to make a film that gave hope: You are not your problems; you're better than them,” said the actor from Lost.
“You can live a good life if you deal with your problems. But sometimes it's difficult. Some scenes were really easy for me to act because I'm an alcoholic, and I understand what this means and the pain that goes with it.”
He admitted that his addiction to alcohol was largely the cause of his break-up from actress girlfriend Jennifer Garner, whom he speaks highly of, having recently admitted that the biggest mistake he had ever made in his life had been to divorce her.
“I know about the pain of the divorcé, but I'm very lucky to have such a lovely ex-wife who has helped me so much, and we work together for the kids, because we both know this is the most important thing,” explains Ben, who had three children with Ms Garner – Violet Anne, 14; Seraphine Rose, 10 and Samuel, seven.
Naturally, he was asked about another of his famous ex-partners – Jennifer López who, born in the deprived and mostly-Hispanic Bronx area of New York to recent Puerto Rican immigrants and growing up surrounded by poverty and violence, exploits her Latin roots constantly in her music, producing entire albums in Spanish which, surprisingly, she does not speak completely fluently and had to learn, even though it is her parents' native language.
Affleck was in a relationship with Jennifer López – an acclaimed actress and, more recently, clothing designer with her J-Lo collection, as well as an accomplished singer-songwriter – after they met in 2001 whilst filming Gigli.
They split up in 2004, breaking off their engagement, with both of them citing relentless media attention as what wrecked their relationship – in fact, Jennifer's 'rags-to-riches' hit in which she insists she is still the Puerto Rican girl from the impoverished suburb, Jenny From the Block, was a response to the couple's being hounded constantly by the press.
“For me, it's wonderful to see her gaining the respect she deserves,” Affleck said when asked about J-Lo.
“She's a great woman. She seems very happy with her fiancé and I wish her all the best with her forthcoming marriage.”
Jennifer had already said publicly that her hoped-for wedding guests would include a number of her ex-boyfriends when she ties the know with her 44-year-old US-born ex-professional baseball player partner.
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