It was announced earlier this year that Matt Damon and Ben Affleck arereuniting onscreen for a film about how Nike signed Michael Jordan, a partnership that would result in sneaker culture as we know it now. Sneaker culture is also fashion culture, as you cannot separate the influence of sneakers on athleisure and the impact athleisure has had on the entire fashion industry, from high to low fashion. Matt is playing Sonny Vaccaro, the person who worked on the deal with MJ. Ben is Phil Knight, Nike co-founder and former chair. Ben is also directing, which means this will be the first time Ben directs his best friend.
Here they are pictured on set yesterday for the first time with Ben half in costume, wearing a permed wig. I guess he didn’t or couldn’t go full legit perm for his look the way Bradley Cooper did inAmerican Hustle. Actually, to clarify, BCoop didn’t go full perm either – they curled it every single day, setting it in dozens of tight rollers and putting him under a heat cover, old school styles. That’s the way women of my ma’s generation and older used to “set” their hair, and in some ways, you can’t beat it. Curls rolled-when-wet under heat hold up the best for people with a relaxed hair type.
Also seen on set yesterday, Jennifer Lopez came for a visit. She was apparently sitting next to him with headphones on at one point observing him at work – which, as we know, is a major turnoff for her. JLo has always been one of Ben’s biggest cheerleaders. And he too, especially during Bennifer 2.0, has been one of hers.
On that note, tonight is the Tribeca Festival world premiere of JLo’s documentary,Halftime.She is expected to be in New York on the carpet. Since production is underway on the Nike movie, it may be a scheduling conflict for Ben so it’s possible he might not be there. It’s not like they’re not used to intense scheduling. Ben was filming yesterday but he was also seen with JLo at the mall with all of their kids. So it’s possible he can jump on the jet and make a real quick turnaround. We’ll find out in a few hours.
We’ll also get early reaction toHalftime,which premieres on Netflix a week today and I think it might be the kind of thing that I set my alarm for to wake up in the middle of the night the minute it gets added to the queue because it’s the kind of thing where if you don’t, Twitter will have screencaps and spoilers within the first two hours.
