Ben Affleck opens up about Jennifer Lopez and career hit

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez called off engagement in 2004.

Ben Affleck has opened up about his relationship with Jennifer Lopez. The 43-year-old actor and the singer dated for two years, but called off engagement in 2004.

During an interview with Bill Simmons' on his show Any Given Wednesday, the Argo actor revealed how his relationship and career took a hit.

He said: "I was, like, the lowest rung of cool and talented that you could possibly be in the public consciousness at that time. I had broken up with Jennifer Lopez and I had, like, three or four movies in a row that had bombed."

Affleck also recalled how comedian Robert Wuhl recorded a joke about him for United Airlines flights. He said: "So that guy had to look around and go, 'Who's below me that I can sh*t on?' And he picked me. He did a whole bit about me that I saw on United Airlines and I [thought], 'This is it, it really doesn't get much worse than this.' That was where I found myself when I thought, 'Hey, I want to take up directing, which is for people that are taken seriously.' That became my mantra — 'I'm just going to work harder than everybody else.'"

Amidst this, Affleck praised his estranged wife Jennifer Garner. The two had announced their divorce in a joint statement on 30 June 2015 — a day after their tenth wedding anniversary. He said: "My wife was really instrumental and helpful in me doing a lot of that work because I was just so focused [on it] and it was harder to balance family and all that."