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SEPTEMBER 30, 2002
By Michael Klein The cast and crew of Jersey Girl simply would have rolled into town, gotten their work done, and left - if not for the romance of stars Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck. The magazines are sniffing around in earnest. Us Weekly, which last month lost a bidding war with archrival People magazine over the first photos of the couple, weighed in last week with onlooker-shot photos of them shopping and smooching at the South Street boutique Platinum. A People writer parachuted in last weekend. Next week's issue is expected to have a story on babies used in the film. The Star, the supermarket tabloid, also will pick up on the baby angle next weekend. Star caught our Sept. 19 item about John and Nancy Agnew of Northeast Philadelphia, whose twins, Jaden and Jagger, play the "Jersey Girl" as a newborn. John Agnew had provided us a photo, gratis, of Lopez and Affleck holding the boys. On Friday, Agnew sold the shot and eight others to the Star for an undisclosed price; the opening gambit was $500. He says People contacted him as well but never bit at the photos.
SEPTEMBER 29, 2002 
Answer: Yeah, I just got the offer the other day. [Are you going to take it up?] Yeah, I was in Philly last week. Ben Affleck turned 30 so we had a little birthday dinner for him and Kevin was there (at the time of this interview Jersey Girl was in rehersals). He handed me the script and I read it. I play a delivery man who brings a pack of diapers to Ben, I had like 2 lines. I said to Kevin "is it going to be distracting, me walking in doing a cameo?" because I've done cameos in just about everyone of his movies. "Is this going to be distracting, this is a more serious movie" and he just went "F*** it man! if we can't do this stuff and do it together, then who the hell cares and it's no fun and we suck!". So I said alright, I'll take the part.
SEPTEMBER 26, 2002
WHILE RUMORS have Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck already saying "I do," a new development has surfaced that has the
filmmaking lovebirds playing house in our loving city.
Currently cohabitating at the Phoenix while filming Kevin Smith's "Jersey Girl," they've rented an entire floor in the
Center City building, for $17,000 per month. A source tells Us Weekly that "they almost never leave [the building] or
return solo."
Affleck, 30, and Lopez, 32, "can't keep their [hands] off each other," and are constantly "holding hands, cuddling and
hugging when in the lobby," Us reports.
Though adopted homeboy Ben has yet to drop to one knee, he has gifted his main squeeze with plenty of sparkling jewels. And
despite earlier reports in the New York Post that have the pair walking down the aisle before the end of the year, Us says
no can do. J.Lo's pending divorce with Cris Judd isn't final till Jan. 26. A J.Lo spokesperson has made the official
"there are no plans in the works" announcement.
But, a very close friend of the singer-actress tells the magazine, "They are going to get married." When? "They won't get
engaged or anything - they'll just get married." We just hope we're invited.
LOOKS LIKE amor, J.Lo-style, has gotten Ben Affleck thinking about the big picture. We're talking home and hearth with a
certain Latina lovely.
"It feels like a family life is waiting for me. I'm almost surprised that I don't dread it. But the most important things
in life are family, love and the relationships you have," the actor told the Swedish paper Aftonbladet.
Wait a minute. Ben's talking to a daily in Sweden, but Dude can't give an interview to the Daily News, the People Paper in
his adopted city?
But back to Ben and his future. Ben, who's purportedly living with his honey Jennifer Lopez at the Phoenix for a cool
$17,000 a month, glowed about his love, saying, "She stands with both feet on the ground...People think that she's a diva.
But she's just a normal family girl from the Bronx." When normal means you have an entourage with 100 people, she sure is!
DREXEL HILL'S Grace Linkmayer, a patient, was getting some fresh air outside Thomas Jefferson Hospital when she noticed a
crowd gathered at the corner.
A handsome gentleman was kind enough to separate the crowd and wheel her up front. In addition to the push, Ben Affleck
also gave her a kiss on the cheek and some kind words.
The crowd had gathered to watch the actor shoot a scene for "Jersey Girl." (Linkmayer's roommate at Jefferson was
Northeast resident Lillian Kadlec, mother of Flyers fan services director Joe Kadlec.)
It's in the papers. It's all over the news. ... "You're not waiting to see J-Lo, are you?" the Paulsboro cop asks several men across the street from the Bronx diva's trailer. "Well, she ain't here today--and she's why I signed up for this job in the first place!" On this overcast Thursday morning before a holiday weekend, no one heeds the warning. She'll be here. She has to be here. Awestruck teens carry video cameras, ready-to-autograph DVD cases and pictures. One rolled out of bed and just threw on clothes to get down here in time. "I don't want no autograph," he says. "I want a hug."
SEPTEMBER 24, 2002
Joining the Sunday brunch crowd at Bleu, on Rittenhouse Square: Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, with two others. During
their 90-minute chowdown on creme brulee French toast, Eggs Pacifica and Eggs Florentine, Affleck left periodically to
smoke in the alley. (Let's see. Affleck works out five or six times a week, as we reported Sunday, and he can't get through
a meal without a cigarette?)
Liv Tyler found a different way to relax. She got a seaweed wrap and hot stone massage the other day at Pierre & Carlo, the
spa Downstairs at the Bellevue.
SEPTEMBER 22, 2002
What are Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez doing five or sometimes even six times a week? Sometimes with Liv Tyler as well?
The Jersey Girl stars are working out with Lopez's personal trainer, Gunnar Peterson, who flew in from Beverly Hills last
month for the film shoot. Peterson, who also trains Christian Slater, Penelope Cruz, Sylvester Stallone and others, found
discreet local gyms. He says the actors - "in great shape in every way" - do 60 to 90 minutes of weights, interval
training, "super setting" (two exercises back-to-back before resting), and "peripheral heart action."
They love it. "Exercise doesn't have to be that foreboding thing that hangs out there that we all dread," Peterson says.
"They come in happy, they laugh, we get it done." Longest he's been out of his studio was four months, when he trained Mike
Tyson. "I called my wife [in California] the other day and said: 'I'm a Philly guy now.' "
Sure. The one with the rock-hard abs.
Settlement Music School got a call late Sept. 13 - the Friday night of a three-day weekend - for an 18-piece adult
orchestra for Tuesday morning. Settlement's Bill Hughes managed to pull together faculty, who wore concert black and sat on
stage at the Forrest Theater while Jersey Girl cameras filmed a scene from Sweeney Todd. Ben Affleck and young costar
Raquel Castro watched from the balcony. The players played... not a note. Singers in the scene were miked, but music will
be dubbed in later. "They wanted to make it look authentic," says violinist Monique Johnson, surmising why she and fellow
musicians put in an 11-hour day.
SEPTEMBER 19, 2002
FOR all you cynics who think the Ben Affleck-Jennifer Lopez romance is a publicity stunt, Kevin Smith has something to say.
Smith, the writer and director of the duo's latest picture, "Jersey Girl," writes in his weekly diary on moviepoopshoot.com: "If you're ever shooting a movie about two people falling in love, I can't urge you strongly enough to cast a pair of people who are actually falling in love.
"The chemistry between Ben and Jen is so palpable, you could almost bottle it and sell it as an aphrodisiac. Take after take, we watched Ben and Jen [who we couldn't have cast as love-at-first-sighters at a better time in their lives] flirt through a rapid-fire-dialogue dance of movie meet-cute.
"But this wasn't just art imitating life," Smith reports. "Somehow in the midst of all that smolder . . . the performances they gave were nothing short of spellbinding."
One person definitely not enamored of Affleck is Lopez's ex-father-in-law, Larry Judd. In a tell-all interview with the National Enquirer, Judd claims Lopez started cheating on her husband Cris Judd with Affleck after just five months of marriage. He says she also cheated on Sean "Puffy" Combs and lied to the press and friends when she left Cris to make herself look good.
"There was talk that Jennifer rebounded to Cris after Puffy, but I don't believe that," Larry said. "They had been dating long before [Combs' club-shooting] trial began."
According to Larry, Lopez pressed the marriage issue and all was fine until she started filming "Gigli" with Affleck: "She was leaving the house at 5 a.m. and she wouldn't return until after 10 p.m. . . . Jennifer was spending more time with Ben, and Ben made [Cris] feel unwelcome...
"Then in May, she told Cris that their marriage was over and she would be seeking a divorce . . . Jennifer did not conduct herself as a married woman, and Ben did not respect the fact that she was my son's wife.
"In May, she told Oprah Winfrey how happy she was being married to Cris. It was all a lie to protect her public image!"
As for those reports that Cris got up to $15 million in the divorce settlement, Larry claims his son took nothing: "Despite the fact his wife is one of the richest women in Hollywood, Cris chose not to seek his half of the community property split. As far as I know, my son walked away from his marriage with only his clothes, his new dog and his automobile."
Cris has been singing a different tune, and in August told PAGE SIX spies that he took home close to $10 million and has just bought a $2 million house in the Hollywood Hills.
One more Jersey Girl baby story: John and Nancy Agnew's sons, Jaden and Jagger, were born Aug. 14. A week later, the Agnews got a call at their Northeast Philadelphia home from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, saying that producers were shopping for newborns. Preferably two of a kind to play the title character as a baby. Two days later, the Agnews were in a trailer on the set. A knock. It was Affleck and movie wife Jennifer Lopez, who hung out for more than a half-hour. When John Agnew learned that the film baby would be a girl, "I was like, 'This is not going to work.' Then they put the [pink] outfits on them, and I said, 'It'll work.' "
Chio was unprepared with questions because he didn't think Diego could pull it off, what with tight security around the the star as he filmed "Jersey Girl" at the Forrest Theatre. But Diego stuck a cell phone in Ben's hand and - voila! Chio also was unprepared when Affleck claimed to listen to the show in the morning and promised to drop by the station in person. (Morning fem Christie nearly fainted when she heard this.) (If he does visit, maybe Chio can ask Ben if he really dropped 100Gs at the blackjack table in Atlantic City's Trump Marina, as the buzz is saying - but Ben's press spokesman is not.) CELEB SPOTTING - Actress Liv Tyler - casual in sneaks, jeans and sweater - led a party of six (including her "Jersey Girl" director Kevin Smith) to dinner at the Palm (Broad & Walnut) and picked up the $500 tab. The Lady had lobster bisque and lamb chops, The Director settled for grilled chicken breast. About $200 went for the Italian red wine she favors. Plugging into the hype surrounding the filming of "Jersey Girl" -- which has brought stars Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, George Carlin and writer/director Kevin Smith to the town -- Paulsboro High School wrestling coach Paul Morina is hoping to turn local excitement into money for the school. Morina has designed and is selling a white T-shirt with "Paulsboro: Home of the Real Jersey Girl," written on the back for $10, with the money going to the Paulsboro High School store. In addition to coaching the nationally known wrestling team, Morina also runs the school store and is assistant principal in charge of athletics.
SEPTEMBER 18, 2002
Surely there have been bigger events in the history of Berlin.
It's just that no one can remember when.
For hundreds who lined the White Horse Pike at Broad Street just about all day Monday, this was it. A once-in-a- lifetime moment fueled by megawatt Hollywood star power.
"This town lives for stuff like this," said Ronnie Kapischke, 47, manager of a Wawa whose parking lot was the front line of a celebrity safari for Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez and Liv Tyler, stars of Jersey Girl. The film, by Central Jersey native Kevin Smith, is being shot in South Jersey and Philadelphia.
Kapischke said crowds started gathering around 5 a.m. By 11, they'd bought her last roll of film.
The Berlin Diner - a metal-plated, art deco, neon- lighted throwback across Broad Street - was the location for a scene being filmed Monday.
"Ben ... J. Lo ... Liv," voices barked out from the crowd, which grew to about 400 by midday, as the onlookers' idols breezed on and off the set.
Affleck, an Oscar winner and certified matinee idol, worked the fans into a frenzy just before 10 a.m., strolling across Broad Street to meet and greet.
Women cooed as the chiseled, 6-foot-3 actor turned up the charm. He posed, offered kisses, signed autographs and smiled for just about everyone and everything in front of him as the crowd pressed in.
Affleck even grabbed several cell phones to chat with unbelieving friends who would have killed to be there.
"He talked to my girlfriend," sighed Tina Caro, 40, of Berlin, still breathless a few hours later.
Caro, a school bus driver, said her friend Marcy Czechowski was resting at home in Cherry Hill after recent surgery.
"He told her to have a good recovery," Caro said. "He called her `sweetie.'"
No doubt about it, this was a big deal for Berlin, whose population is slightly above 6,000.
"It's such a treat to have a movie set in a town people used to make fun of," said Lori Singley, 49. "When we were growing up, people used to call us farmers. This is a nice little Jersey town."
Jersey Girl is actually set in the Monmouth County borough of Highlands. It's about Affleck, a New York City PR man forced to move back to his hometown with his wife, played by Lopez, and their daughter, the title character. Scenes also have been shot in Paulsboro.
But that's all Hollywood stuff. As far as the locals here were concerned, Jersey Girl reflects them and their community.
"It's great for Berlin," said Police Chief Lawrence Winters, who deployed 13 of his 16 officers to the scene.
The only thing that rivaled the excitement, Winters said, occurred several years ago when the old Berlin Hotel was moved down the pike to a new location.
Kapischke remembered the hotel spectacle, but ranked Monday's movie shoot higher.
"The hotel was old and ugly," she said. "Ben is not old or ugly."
The crowds, packed on both sides of the pike behind yellow police tape and under an overcast sky, spied every move. Technicians, extras, stand-ins and just about everyone near the action were fair game for adulation. Lopez stoked the fans by sweeping into the diner just before 11 a.m. and leaving shortly afterward, wrapped in Affleck's arm.
Tyler, daughter of Aerosmith singer Steve Tyler, also drew whoops and hollers as she was whisked in and out of the restaurant.
But the crowd, overwhelmingly female and swelled by kids off from school for Yom Kippur, left no doubt about its favorite.
"We've been out here since 7 a.m.," said borough resident Stephanie Amato, 15, as pal Jessica Malespin, 13, stood next to her. "We were across the street and we thought they weren't going to let us come over here to get an autograph from Ben Affleck, but we squeezed through the crowd."
Their reward: autographed T-shirts they swore would never be washed again.
The crowd erupted when Lopez stepped out of a SUV and waved to fans. Tyler and Affleck delighted the crowd when they emerged from filming in the diner. There was also a correction regarding the item on Affleck and the baby that they ran recently:
SEPTEMBER 18, 2002
SEPTEMBER 17, 2002
Granted, we're only in week two, but I feel comfortable going on the record with that confession. Now for some of you, calling this flick our best probably isn't saying much (as there are cats who feel we've never done anything cinematically worthwhile). For others, you'll never agree (the hardcore MALLRATS won't find much to love about this flick). But for me, as my jaw drops watching the performances spark to life while we shoot, as I marvel at the dailies every night, and smile widely when Scott and I cut the scenes together over the weekends, that's the impression I'm getting. This flick certainly isn't the funniest film we've ever made (far from it), but it's already the most visually rich affair, with the most thoroughly realized characters I've ever had the pleasure of watching any of my casts commit to celluloid. As we come to the close of week two of our scheduled 11 weeks of shooting, for the first time in my career, I feel like a full-fledged filmmaker, as opposed to just a writer who directs his own stuff.
Rehearsals went incredibly well. We were scheduled for two full weeks, but by the end of day one, it was clear that we could've started shooting the next day. In the midst of rehearsals, we took time out to head into Philly's famous Sigma Sound (where Bowie laid down tracks, many moons ago) to record a song for the big musical number in the flick.
Yes -- I said big musical number. Where's GLAAD now, as I prepare to unabashedly unfurl and let fly my drama-fag flag by showcasing my adoration of show tunes?
...
If you're ever shooting a movie about two people falling in love, I can't urge you strongly enough to cast a pair of people who are actually falling in love. The chemistry between Ben and Jen is so palpable, you could almost bottle it and sell it as an aphrodisiac. Take after take, we watched Ben and Jen (who we couldn't have cast as love-at-first-sighters at a better time in their lives) flirt through a rapid-fire-dialogue dance of movie meet-cute. But this wasn't just art imitating life; somehow in the midst of all that smolder, they managed to provide us with a pair of performances that reminded this little black duck why he's always worshipped at the Altar of Affleck, and is now currently constructing a Lopez Basilica as we speak. Honestly, the performances they gave were nothing short of spellbinding.
Read it from start to finish over at the Shoot!
SEPTEMBER 15, 2002
The scene was Ben driving the BMW across the field then he and J Lo walk out in front of the car, holding hands then stop to kiss in front of the head lights.
They used some extra's in cars to drive by the scene. It was a beautiful sight I am sure you'll get loads of emails on it.
Someone had better make Ben Affleck a father soon.
During the local shooting of Jersey Girl, he's been spotted kissing and cuddling more babies than a political candidate with a lifetime supply of Chapstick.
Affleck was at it again Wednesday, when he and costar Liv Tyler visited Mercy Community Outpatient Campus in Haverford to shoot a nursery scene. (It's where Affleck's character, Ollie, becomes a new daddy.)
Between takes, Affleck spotted little Shane Kubiak, an extra, there with his parents, John Kubiak, group events manager for Greater Philadelphia Radio Group, and Theresa Marsden, a broker's assistant for Merrill Lynch.
"He said, 'Can I hold him?' " Kubiak said. Affleck scooped Shane and baby-talked for 10 minutes. Tyler joined in, too.
Shane's path to stardom was paved by Marsden's sister, Fran Savastano, who works for Mike Lemon Casting of Philadelphia. Newborns were needed, and Marsden delivered on time.
Turns out that the little guy and Affleck have something in common: They were born exactly 30 years apart - Aug. 15, 1972 and 2002 - a fact that Kubiak says he forgot to mention to Affleck.
Check it out online HERE.
She used to think Jennifer Lopez looked kind of tough. But all that changed for one local fan after a fleeting encounter Wednesday night in Havertown, where J.Lo and beau Ben Affleck were filming scenes for their new movie, "Jersey Girl." "She didn't look tough at all. She looked more petite and soft," said fan Joanne Alegado. "She's really, really pretty." And, despite Lopez's reputation as a demanding, if sexy, diva who travels with a staff of 100 - including hairstylists, chefs and masseuses - and requires everything in her dressing room to be white, from candles to flowers, "She was just super nice," said Alegado. And so much in love. Lopez and Affleck had wrapped up filming for the night at the old Haverford Hospital on West Chester Pike when Alegado and friend Chrissy Campitelli met up with them about 11 p.m. Wednesday. Campitelli and Alegado were among about two-dozen well-wishers who crowded around the upscale SUV that was ferrying the stars. For their trouble, the adoring fans were able to witness a big-as-life Hollywood kiss. "They were talking to people and they just kissed," Alegado said. "A little kiss. Just like a little cutesy, off-the-cuff kind of kiss. It was really, really, really cool." "They were very lovey-dovey. Really cute together," said Alegado, 42, who works in advertising for the Daily News. "I wasn't really sure what to expect from her," Campitelli, 23, who works for a Main Line catering firm, said of J.Lo. "She was really nice and down to earth." Campitelli said Affleck had displayed the same attitude when he signed an autograph for her that afternoon outside the hospital. He'd also gone out of his way to talk to a teen-age fan in a wheelchair and even answered a cell phone handed to him by another fan, she said. "They were leaving for the night and they could have just driven away but they made [the driver] come over," Campitelli said. Both leaned out the rear window, talked and signed autographs. They made a beautiful couple, Alegado said. "I said you're both really gorgeous, because you look even better in person and not all celebrities do." Alegado said she'd been at an Oscar party in California and had seen some celebrities close up who looked "like they were laid out in a funeral home."
All it took was two magical signatures, and the Paulsboro fire companies' white leather helmet became a prize. Leading man Ben Affleck wrote: "All the best to the firemen, many thanks." To the borough's all-volunteer companies, costar Jennifer Lopez penned: "Love to all the firemen." Firefighters are banking on the famous scrawls from the stars of Jersey Girl. Eventually, the chief's helmet will be auctioned off to benefit the companies. Over the last few weeks, the $35 million Miramax film has been pumping dollars into shops, restaurants, the police department, and the school district in one of Gloucester County's poorest municipalities. Paulsboro is doubling for Highlands, Monmouth County, the setting for the film and the hometown of director Kevin Smith, who made the indie hits Chasing Amy and Clerks. Although borough buildings are free for Smith's use, the costs needed to keep production running smoothly have begun to accrue. Paulsboro police officers have benefited from the $40 per hour rate they earn for overtime. During five days of shooting, about 12 officers have worked between 12 and 16 hours daily. "They do pay the bills," said Chief Ken Ridinger, referring to the filmmakers. Over at the firehouse on Swedesboro Avenue, the company has been providing a place for cast and crew to chow down between takes. On one recent shooting day, production rented the hall from 5 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. The fire hall space rents for about $495 for five hours. For use of Loudenslager Elementary School and Paulsboro High School, Jersey Girl will donate $2,000 to the district. "Every penny is helpful," Superintendent Frank Scambia said. Near the schools is Hill Studio, Mayor John Burzichelli's production company, which had also been rented as the film crew's staging area for two days. At Weiss True Value in Paulsboro, set dressers have routinely been patrons, purchasing items that include lightbulbs, tools and tape. But the total impact of Jersey Girl on the borough pales in comparison to its impact on Philadelphia, where the film company is likely to spend between $10 million and $20 million. The borough could absorb "anywhere from a few thousand to many thousands of dollars," said Sharon Pinkenson, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office. Several New Jersey towns have had their fair share of big-ticket movies, said Steven Gorelick, associate director of the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission based in Newark. Director Steven Soderbergh spent a cool $729,000 when he brought Ocean's 11 - featuring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Julia Roberts - to Atlantic City for five days of filming. A Perfect Murder, starring Michael Douglas and Gwyneth Paltrow, was filmed for 21 days in Jersey City, and brought $5.4 million to the area. In Paulsboro, extra revenues have been generated by fans, some of whom are on all-day stakeouts that require them to patronize local restaurants and shops. At Romeo's Records in Paulsboro, Jennifer Lopez's music has enjoyed a new and frenzied popularity with local kids. "Anything with her picture on it, they're buying to get autographs on," said owner Romeo Dixon. "This town is big in wrestling, football and this movie," said Dixon, who sold 60 of Lopez's CDs during a recent two-day period. Local business leaders are encouraged by the much-needed attention borough shops are receiving. "It's a wonderful thing that's happened to our town," said Virginia Scott, president of the Greater Paulsboro Chamber of Commerce. "It's spotlighting our people and restaurants," she said. "Hopefully, it will bring some people back to town." South Jerseyans also have a chance to mug for the cameras. Each day of shooting in Paulsboro requires between 15 and 100 extras. The Screen Actors Guild rate for extras in a feature film is $110 for an eight-hour day. "Everybody wins," Fire Chief Gary Stevenson said
SEPTEMBER 12, 2002
What do J-Lo, Ben Affleck and Michael Bolton have in common? No, the answer has nothing to do with hairstyles or ego sizes. All of these celebs have worked, or are currently working, on films (or videos) in Philly. Our town’s reputation as a good and inexpensive place to make movies has only been enhanced by the recent hype from the Kevin Smith film Jersey Girl, now shooting with Lopez, Affleck and other stars in various locations in the city. But after Smith, who hails from New Jersey, opted to shoot in Philly, it was time for our local location scouts to enter the scene to help film crews make the most of what the city has to offer.
These folks know everything there is to know about a city, including its underbelly. The scouts are hired guns who find the locations, negotiate with the owner of the location for permission to shoot there, and often end up becoming the location managers once the spot is secured.
Robert Holtzman, who goes by the nickname Ratface, is one such gun. Ratface is actually a production designer, but the Fishtown resident has become known as an asset to directors and producers looking for unique spots to shoot. Ratface reads the film scripts in advance and draws on his knowledge of the city to find backdrops that reflect the proper look and feel for the scene.
"If the script calls for a seedy bar, I would immediately think of McGlinchey's," he says."We shot the film Dogma (also directed by Smith) in Pittsburgh, and I had to find a seedy bar, so I looked for one that had a nicotine mural like McGlinchey's has."
"Philadelphia has great locations," he says, "and it's not expensive." He emphasizes that budget is very important and that Philly is much cheaper than New York, although not as cheap as Canada, another popular alternative to Hollywood shoots.
Jersey Girl takes place in the Highlands in central New Jersey and in New York, and while there are some scenes shot in both places, the bulk of the film is shot in Philadelphia.
"New York was cost prohibitive," Ratface says. "Miramax wanted Canada, but Kevin and I wanted Philly. The only issue was the difference in cost between Philly and Canada and Philly got it because Ben [Affleck] wanted Philly."
SEPTEMBER 9, 2002
I was surprised at all the work that the "background" people do. They made up the house to look older then it is by giving it dirty marks on it and put 2 fake Dormers (sp) on the top. They even kicked out a few spindles on the railing. The people that live on the block say that they are renting the house from a woman that was selling it ( someone famous used to live there along time ago but I forget who) They have a Madonna in the front that they put away every night in a shed out back. They planted bushes in front of the house and when I saw the baby scene, there were yellow flowers on them.
When I got there I found out that I had just missed Ben and decided to stay and watch because I have always wanted to see behind the "wizards curtain" at how they make movies. I was surprised at how many people it took and how much detail they put into it.
Then they were finished that scene and went into a scene where they were moving into the house. Ben and George Carlins doubles where there. People put suitcases in the car ( just for the shot they never even touched them) then they had a rental truck full of empty boxes with a crib and a couch in it. We watched the doubles move the crib out of the truck and up the stairs to the house a few times. Then all of a sudden George shows up. I don't think he's allowed to pose for pictures because I heard him tell someone only while he's walking.
Then Ben was there (man they travel in a kick ass SUV) then Jen showed up a bit later to watch and then she left again (she wasn't in the scene) they moved the crib out then the couch and that was it. Jen left quickly before they were done the shoot then Ben walks over and starts signing autographs and doing pictures He's so sweet, he was picking up all the little kids and holding them.
We received some more reports as well, some chatting about a funeral scene and a wedding scene -- There's a lot of speculation about who those events surround, but we'll leave this spoiler free here. Enjoy the photos!
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez worked into the wee-small hours of Friday, shooting a scene for the Kevin Smith movie Jersey Girl at the Queen Village landmark. It was their characters' first date (in a Manhattan diner) and included a kiss. Between takes, though, Affleck and J. Lo could be seen getting along like a more established couple - hugging and smooching. Affleck wore a conservative gray sports jacket, periwinkle-blue shirt and dark slacks. J. Lo, her hair short and curly, wore a sexy-yet-demure cream-colored dress. She was comfortable enough to eat fries. They'd scooted from their trailers into Famous' back door about 10:45 p.m, away from a knot of onlookers. They left before 2:30 a.m. No time for autographs. (Earlier Thursday, after shooting at the nearby Meredith School, Lopez obliged young fans.) Production designer Robert "Ratface" Holtzman, a vet of Smith's Chasing Amy and M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense, spent nearly all day Thursday with his crew to deck out Famous in Santas and menorahs for the scene, which is set around the holidays. (Fun fact: The last time Famous reached the big screen - in 1993's Tom Hanks-Denzel Washington-Jonathan Demme hit Philadelphia - it, too, was a warm-weather shoot set in winter.) Smith worked hard in an untucked baseball jersey, long shorts and sneakers. Or, how about this take on the scene? 
Christmas in September? It was last night at 4th and Bainbridge as J.Lo, Ben Affleck and the crew of "Jersey Girl" took over the Famous 4th Street Deli. On the windows were Hanukkah decals and inside were Christmas wreaths, so no need to guess when the scene takes place. Wonder why movies cost so much? More than four dozen members of the crew worked on setting the scene as they dined on roast beef, turkey, king crab legs and desserts galore in the production tent. As for the stars' special requests, a Famous chef was asked to make french fries for Jennifer and chicken pot pies for Ben. Finally Ben and Jen snuck into the side door of the deli from their trailers and began shooting. Affleck was dressed in an electric blue shirt with a tie and J.Lo wore a cream sleeveless slip dress. A crowd of 150 or so fans waited outside the deli for hours to catch a glimpse, but the group had dwindled to around 50 diehards when shooting began after 11 p.m. This being Philly, at night, near South Street, toughs on motorbikes kept riding by trying to louse up the takes.
SEPTEMBER 8, 2002 Holiday setting, eh? Another small piece of the puzzle is revealed. Though the film is spanning several years, we're not sure exactly when the holiday scene(s) will take place.
SEPTEMBER 5, 2002
Let's hope director Kevin Smith likes Tyler's performance better than Woody Allen, who cut her musical cameo from "Everyone Says I Love You."
SEPTEMBER 2, 2002
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were looking for a little luck last weekend, just before shooting started on Jersey Girl. On Saturday, the stars and respective retinues were helicoptered into Trump Marina in Atlantic City, where he hit a blackjack table and she a roulette wheel before all retired to suites. Plural. They helicoptered out Sunday.
Who is the "girl" of Jersey Girl? She's newcomer Raquel Castro, 7, a Long Islander who shot her first scenes Thursday and Friday in Paulsboro, with Affleck, who plays her father, and George Carlin, who's her grandfather. (Though J. Lo. had no scenes Friday, she showed up. Such devotion!) Filmmaker Kevin Smith and company will be here for 10 more weeks.
Also, a bit off topic...
A mystery unfolds on the Paulsboro set While adoring fans screamed for Ben Affleck Friday morning, farther down Delaware Street Paulsboro police had to abandon their jobs of protecting the stars of Jersey Girl to uncover the plot of a mystery unfolding at the post office. A customer had spotted an abandoned plastic bag in the lobby and had become concerned. Once outside, the sleuthing customer called police officers over from the set of Kevin Smith's movie, some of which is being filmed at the Paulsboro Borough Hall. The post office was cleared for 30 minutes while officers brought in a bomb-sniffing dog. A harmless VCR was discovered in the bag. And no, Affleck's "Armageddon" or "Pearl Harbor" weren't in the machine.
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