![Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony hold hands as they walk outside. She wears a silver turtleneck with a matching belt and skirt. He wears a tan suit.](https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Jennifer-Lopez-Marc-Anthony-1.webp)
Marc Anthony Said Jennifer Lopez Could Stand to ‘Enjoy Life a Little More’
Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez were married for seven years, making the relationship her longest marriage so far. In the years they were together, the couple raised two children and worked on several joint projects. While Anthony respected his wife’s work ethic, he said she could probably stand to find more enjoyment in her life outside of work.
Marc Anthony said he thought Jennifer Lopez worked too much
After first meeting in 1998, Lopez and Anthony married in 2004. When asked what she brought into his life, he said that she instilled a powerful work ethic in him.
“No, seriously, she’s taught me discipline,” he told Vanity Fair in 2011, adding, “I was just a musician’s musician, you know what I mean? And now I get up at six in the morning, film Hawthorne, score the show, and I make my meetings.”
![Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony kiss. She holds a microphone in the same hand that touches his cheek.](https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Jennifer-Lopez-Marc-Anthony.webp?strip=all&quality=80)
While he appreciated this change in his life, he believed Lopez could benefit from finding fulfillment outside of work.
“She could enjoy life a little more,” he said. “I mean, there are only a certain amount of hours in every day.”
Still, he enjoyed their life and said he’d rather be working hard than not getting opportunities.
“We know each other, we know when we can’t tolerate each other, and we each have that sounding board [in each other],” he said. “She’s harsh with her criticism sometimes, but it’s just because she wants me to be the best I can be. I will always be there for her. It’s a very, very dynamic life. I’m taxing myself and pushing myself to the limit, work-wise. But I’ve been faced with the phone not ringing, and that’s not fun. I’d rather this.”
Marc Anthony said he embarrassed himself in front of Jennifer Lopez when they first met
According to Lopez, she entered into relationships after her partner pursued her relentlessly. Anthony was no exception to this rule. Years before they married, he accidentally told her he wanted her to be his wife.
“I had never met her,” he said. “I’d heard she was a fan of mine, and she walked into my dressing room and I said the worst opening line ever. I don’t know what the hell came over me, but I said, ‘You’re my wife and you don’t even know it.’ And she said, ‘Excuse me?’ And I’m like, ‘I’m so sorry, I don’t know where the f*** that came from.’”
While the line didn’t work right away, they did eventually begin a romantic relationship.
She said her decision to end the marriage was a difficult one
In 2011, Lopez and Anthony decided to end their marriage, citing irreconcilable differences. She admitted she knew early on that they weren’t a good match.
“I hung in there for seven years,” she told W Magazine (per Us Weekly). “I knew very quickly that it wasn’t the right thing.”
![Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony hold hands and wave to a crowd while onstage.](https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/JLo-Marc-Anthony.webp?strip=all&quality=80)
Still, she said it was difficult to admit she wanted a divorce. It was even harder to move past her hurt feelings to co-parent with Anthony.
“When my marriage ended, it was not easy to find forgiveness,” she said. “It wasn’t the dream that I had hoped for, and it would have been easier to fan the flames of resentment, disappointment and anger. But Marc is the father of my children, and that’s never going away. So I have to work to make things right. And that is, by far, the hardest work I do.”