A picture is worth a thousand words. Body language is also extremely telling, especially when it comes to Ben Affleck and his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner, and the actor and his current wife, Jennifer Lopez.
“He seems so relaxed and, well, happy when he’s with Jen, but with J. Lo, he seems tense, even angry at times,” a source tells Life & Style. “Ben put Jen through hell when they were together, but they’ve worked past all of that. There’s been a lot of healing, and they may be closer now — as friends — than they were when they were a couple.”
Also, being married to J. Lo “can’t be easy,” adds the source. “She can be very intense, and Ben gets caught up in that. He can get a little on edge.”
Life & Style went to body language expert Patti Wood to decode Ben’s complicated relationships with his two Jens.
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KIDDING AROUND
“This is playful,” says Patti, author of Snap: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language & Charisma. “The arm on her shoulder is almost ‘now, now, now, come on.’ It’s an interaction that’s almost like he said something funny or absurd, and she’s going, ‘Oh, my God, I can’t believe you said that!’”
ALL SMILES
“What I like is she’s truly happy. She has that great open mouth, front upper teeth fully exposed, and you can see what I call ‘a smile crushed eyes,’” explains Patti. “I also like that his body lean is toward her. That tells me they’re sharing a laugh. He’s got a grin. He’s getting a little secret pleasure from the moment.”
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IN SYNC
“Their feet are pointed toward each other, their pelvises are pointed to each other, their bellies are pointed to each other, so that tells me they’re grounded together,” remarks Patti. “Even their hearts are centered and pointed toward each other.”
Robyn BECK / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
NOT MUCH PASSION
“He appears slightly worried, and you can see the worry from the indent in the middle of his brows, his raised eyes and the tenseness around his mouth,” describes Patti. “She’s fine. Her head is forward, and she’s got her body forward.”
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RED CARPET ROW
“He’s showing worry, fear, surprise and sadness,” Patti says of this heated scene at the L.A. premiere of The Mother in 2023. “His forehead is raised, his jaw drops open, so that’s surprise and a little bit of fear. The finger up and pointing is expressive of the message, ‘Hold on a minute.’ She’s just done and said something, and he’s going, ‘What?’ He’s in a very vulnerable and emotional state.”
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END OF HIS ROPE
“Ben’s hand is on his head. He’s trying to hold in his emotions, but the predominant emotion is sadness, and you can tell that because his gaze is directed downward — that’s No. 1 for sadness,” says Patti. “And his mouth is opened in anguish. It’s like, ‘ugh.’”
