Jennifer Lopez gets candid about Hollywood’s ‘Dark Side,’ heartbreak, and healing after divorce

Jennifer Lopez isn’t holding back. In a raw new appearance on Brett Goldstein’s Films To Be Buried With podcast, the 56-year-old superstar revealed her “dark side,” how fame once terrified her, and the private moment that helped her heal after her 2024 divorce from Ben Affleck.

“I Would Have Had S_x With Any One of Them” — J.Lo’s True Romance Confession

Lopez surprised listeners by sharing her unfiltered love for Quentin Tarantino’s True Romance. While praising the cult classic’s cast — Christian Slater, Val Kilmer, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini, and Gary Oldman — she joked:

“I would have had s_x with any one of them, which says a lot about the dark side of me. All of them were so f**_ing good in this movie.” The candid laugh-line quickly became a standout podcast moment.

Fame After Selena: “Please Don’t Attack Me”

Lopez also reflected on the overwhelming reality of fame after her 1997 breakout in Selena. When strangers began recognizing her in public, she said her first thought was, “Please don’t attack me.” The Atlas star admitted she initially felt defensive and fearful before realizing fans just wanted to share admiration.

The Turning Point: Heartbreak After Baby Sly

Lopez addressed the emotional aftermath of her split from Affleck, finalized in January 2025. The couple wed in 2022 after rekindling their early-2000s romance, but filed for divorce in August 2024. Sources said Lopez was “furious and humiliated” by how it ended.

She told Interview Magazine, “It almost took me out for good. But now, on the other side of it, I think, ‘That’s exactly what I needed.’” The heartbreak fueled her new track “Wreckage of You,” written two weeks after the split — a raw ballad about walking away and coming out stronger.

A Father’s Words That Changed Everything

On Goldstein’s podcast, Lopez teared up recalling Christmas 2024. Sick and isolating, she asked her dad, David — “not a sit-down watch-a-movie guy” — to watch Brazil’s Oscar-winning I’m Still Here with her.

“At that time of my life, I was going through a divorce and thinking a lot about my kids,” she said. As the film played, emotions overwhelmed her: “Something happened in my head, and I just started crying… I started calculating all of the things with my kids, my experience with my dad, like everything happened just all at once.”

Her father noticed and comforted her: “He just kind of came over to me and grabbed my face and said, ‘I love you. I always loved you.’ And that kind of changed my life in that moment.” Lopez called it healing: “Sometimes as kids we don’t know if our parents love us, even though we know they love us. He knew that’s what I needed to hear.”

On Being Misunderstood in Hollywood

Lopez also spoke to Elle UK about playing CEO Jackie Cruz in Netflix’s Office Romance. Like her character, she said she understands being “misunderstood” by the public.

“Sometimes when you’re in the public eye… people assume all kinds of stories about you and paint you out to be a person that you are absolutely the opposite of… it’s very hurtful,” she said. To cope, she focuses on her values: “I did good today. I was a good person. I was kind to people. I’m a good mom.”