The Reason Behind Ben Affleck’s Absence from Jennifer Lopez’s Atlas Movie Premiere in Los Angeles
Jennifer Lopez rolled out her new movie solo as Ben Affleck kept busy with a project of his own.
Affleck, 51, was absent from the premiere of Lopez’s new Netflix sci-fi movie Atlas at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, Calif., on Monday, May 20.
The actor was filming his upcoming sequel The Accountant 2, while Lopez, 54, walked the red carpet to celebrate Atlas, which she stars in and co-produced. Affleck was photographed on the film’s set in Los Angeles on May 20.
Amid reports of marriage tension with Affleck, Lopez was wearing her wedding ring and a two-piece black-and-white ensemble consisting of a tube top and mermaid-silhouette skirt.
While he was not present at Monday’s event, Affleck previously joined his wife for the premiere of her Amazon musical film This Is Me … Now: A Love Story at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Feb. 13. Lopez attended the Met Gala solo on May 6.
Lopez’s red carpet appearance comes after she and Affleck, her husband of nearly two years, were seen together in public on May 16, for the first time in a month and a half. The singer also recently “liked” social-media content about unhealthy relationships.
On Sunday, May 19, the two were spotted together wearing their wedding rings as they rode in a car together and stepped out in the West Hollywood area of Los Angeles.
Multiple sources have told PEOPLE that Affleck and Lopez are living separately while they’re both in Los Angeles. A separate insider told PEOPLE that the pair “did not celebrate Mother’s Day together” earlier this month.
Of the strain on their relationship, “They just have very different approaches when it comes to media attention,” one insider told PEOPLE. “Ben hates all attention and it makes him very uncomfortable. Jennifer has always had a different approach.”
Lopez spoke with PEOPLE at Monday’s premiere and addressed whether she sees similarities between herself and the character she plays in the film, Atlas Shepherd.
The character, according to a synopsis, is “a brilliant but misanthropic data analyst with a deep distrust of artificial intelligence.” After joining a “mission to capture a renegade robot with whom she shares a mysterious past,” her “only hope of saving the future of humanity from AI is to trust it.”
Admitting she would “always” “infuse a little bit” of herself into the character when playing Atlas, Lopez told PEOPLE, “We are so different because she’s like … doesn’t wear any of her emotions. She’s so closed off and I am too much emotion sometimes.”
“But at the same time we are both very strong and sure of what they feel,” the actress-musician continued. “At times. She was very sure. She was like, ‘This is what’s happening, please listen to me. Please tell me,’ and felt very misunderstood at times. I can also relate to that a bit.”
About knowing what she wants to achieve when it comes to creative characters, Lopez said, “I’m very sure of what I want and sometimes I’m not. Sometimes I’m very doubtful of myself, but I follow my instincts more than anything and I find that when I go against that, is when I go wrong.”
Atlas is on Netflix May 24.
