From making movies to rocking world tours, singing for presidents and performing at the iconic halftime show at the Super Bowl, it's fair to say Jennifer Lopez has been busy. But the global megastar is actually just getting started, according to her new documentary, Halftime, released on Netflix this summer.
The film goes behind the scenes of the star's life as she reveals how "Jenny from the Block" has come a long way and how she plans to keep on going....
So buckle up and get ready to immerse yourself in the high octane and ultra-glamorous world of Jennifer Lopez…
Halftime release date
Released on Tuesday, June 14 on Netflix, the film focuses on the amazing success she has achieved since turning 50 in 2019. Lopez recently told The New York Times reaching that milestone birthday was also the time, "when everything I had worked for in movies, music and fashion just started happening."
Which is pretty extraordinary considering the film and music industries are notorious for their ageist and sexist attitudes towards women. Lopez it seems is defying all expectations and embracing entering her fifth decade with the same level of focus and ambition that have seen her become one of the most famous women on the planet.
What is Halftime about?
Halftime is a celebration of Lopez's achievements so far and a reminder that there is plenty more to come. After over 30-years in the entertainment business, no mean feat in itself, Lopez is going from strength to strength and the star is arguably more relevant than ever.
Her list of successes since reaching that milestone birthday are impressive. Her 2019 movie Hustlers (check out the cast pic below), where she played stripper and con woman Ramona, earned her a Golden Globe nomination and was hailed as the best performance of her acting career by come critics.
She also embarked on her "It's My Party" world tour, which saw the star perform across the US, Canada and around the world including gigs in Moscow, Israel and Egypt. The Instagram post below is from her first night performing in the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York.
In 2020 she sang alongside Shakira at the halftime show at the Super Bowl and kicked off 2021 by singing at the inauguration of President Biden.
In 2022 her film Marry Me saw the star play singer Kat Valdez, who, after discovering her boyfriend has been cheating on her, marries a stranger played by Owen Wilson. The rom com was released in time for Valentine's Day, as was an album of tracks to accompany the love story.
And that's not all, she plays another bride in film, Shotgun Wedding, starring alongside Josh Duhamel in the action/rom com, which will be released later this summer on Prime Video.
And because releasing just two films a year is obviously slacking(!), she's also got another coming out on Netflix later in the year, an action-packed affair called, The Mother, which wrapped filming in Canada in November 2021.
Check out a few pictures below from The Mother, which will be released sometime in 2022 and sees Lopez play a deadly assassin. Phew, anyone else need a lie down?
As one of the most in-demand stars of the moment, her documentary couldn't come at a better time. The official press release from Netflix says: "In Halftime, Lopez is giving us a peek behind the curtain — unpacking everything from her iconic 2020 Super Bowl halftime performance with Shakira (get it?) to her journey as a mom, Latinx creative and woman on the other side of 50. This is the Lopez you don’t see in glossy interviews.
"As the newly released art for Halftime reveals, its celebrity subject, who turns 53 in July, is looking into the future with fearless determination. While many may view Lopez’s age as a reason to slow down — or cover up and quiet down — Halftime is her chance to prove she’s only revving up to get loud(er)."
Who stars in Halftime?
Obviously the focus of the documentary is Lopez herself and the extraordinary things she's achieved in the first half of her life.
One of the major moments celebrated in the film however is the halftime show at the 2020 Super Bowl, where she performed alongside fellow Latin superstar Shakira. In the above post Shakira says:
"I just heard from @JLo that we have four #Emmys nominations for the Super Bowl LIV HT show! That’s amazing. Thank you @TelevisionAcad and everyone who made this possible."
JLo was also proud of their performance, on the day of the big show she posted a sweet snap of her and Shakira rehearsing and said:
"So excited to share the stage with you tonight @Shakira! ✨💕✨ Let’s show the world what two little Latin girls can do."
Will Ben Affleck star in Halftime?
It's not just Lopez's professional life that has been busy recently. In April 2022 the star announced her engagement to actor Ben Affleck. The pair were previously engaged in 2002, after meeting on set of the film Gigli. The pair called off their wedding and split in 2004 citing the relentless media scrutiny as one of the reasons.
But they rekindled their romance in early 2021 and are now set to wed (fingers crossed, second time lucky). After rumours began circulating that 'Bennifer' were back together, the stars went public when Jennifer released a photo of the pair kissing on board a yacht for her 52nd birthday, which you can check out below.
But whether Affleck will star in Halftime is yet to be confirmed. We know the film will give an insight into the star's personal life and talk about her experience as a mother to her twins Max and Emme, who were born in 2008, while Lopez was married to their father and fellow singer Marc Anthony.
But we'll just have to wait and see how much detail Lopez will reveal about her rekindled romance with the actor. She told The New York Times that she had learned her lesson about inviting too much public scrutiny into her private relationships so we are guessing he may not feature too much.
She said: "You have to do what feels good to you all the time. But at the same time, you learn from the past, you do things better the second time. There's a part of it that, yes, we're together. But there's a part of it that's not, you know, being so open the way we were when we were so young and in love many years ago."
Is there a trailer for Halftime?
Netflix released the Halftime trailer, and we’re not sure if we’ve seen Jennifer Lopez be this raw on camera.
