Raquel Castro is the real ‘Jersey Girl’
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Raquel Castro is the real ‘Jersey Girl’

She stars with Ben Affleck in the new film by Kevin Smith. Jennifer Lopez plays a character who dies in the first 15 minutes of the film. Her role has been de-emphasized due to the ‘Gigli’ fallout. By Martin A. Grove
/ Source: Hollywood Reporter

When a film crashes and burns big time as “Gigli” did, the fallout can impact in a big way on its stars, especially if they’re re-teamed in a new project. In the case of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, they are but they aren’t.

While Affleck stars in Miramax’s “Jersey Girl,” written and directed by Kevin Smith (“Clerks,” “Chasing Amy”), Lopez has a cameo role as Affleck’s wife and dies 15 minutes into the movie. Affleck’s real co-star is Raquel Castro, the adorable 9-year-old who plays his daughter and looks so much like Lopez that you’d swear they were mother and daughter.

Although Lopez disappears quickly, she does have a few scenes with Affleck where they have exactly the sort of good romantic chemistry that somehow didn’t materialize in “Gigli.”

“She’s great in the movie,” Smith explained. “Without her, I don’t think we would have gotten the same committed, wonderful performance that we got out of Ben. I’d have gotten something great out of him, but I really got what I feel is something magical out of him because he was so in love with Jen while we were shooting the movie.”

A chance for Affleck to make a comebackAffleck plays Ollie, a former superstar New York publicist whose career died after his wife Gertrude died giving birth to their daughter Gertie. Ollie moves back home to New Jersey with the infant Gertie (Castro) to live with his widowed father (George Carlin). The film’s adult female lead is actually Liv Tyler, who plays Maya, a video store clerk who meets Ollie when he brings Gertie to rent a tape. While Gertie’s busy considering videos, Ollie ducks into the adult section to grab something for himself. When he checks out, Maya’s interest is aroused and romance takes its course.

Smith, who’s “always for the underdog story,” viewed the dismal failure of “Gigli” as an opportunity for Affleck to make a comeback.

“And it forces the marketing to be a bit more honest. I think if ‘Gigli’ had been a big hit, you probably would have seen a poster that had Ben and Jen on it. And that’s not really the movie because Jennifer dies in the first 15 minutes.

“Because ‘Gigli’ died (at the box office) we got marketing that I really believe in that sells the movie honestly. It’s a story about a guy and his kid and a story about a guy and his father.”

Inspired by his own familySmith was inspired to write the story back in 2000 when he watched his wife put their baby to bed one night.

“I was really kind of moved by it — kind of swept up by the feeling of like what if my wife had died and left me with a kid? How on earth would I have possibly done this alone because we worked as such a really good team?”

He wrote 50 pages in two hours, did another quick burst the following year, and finished it in early 2002.

“All told, it was probably a total of a three week write with all the combination of time,” he said.

Dealing with the Bennifer falloutAfter that, it turned into a movie quickly. Affleck had come on board after reading the first 50 pages, and Miramax picked up the project. It was Affleck’s idea to cast Lopez. The two had just finished “Gigli,” where they cemented their relationship.

Shooting took place in New Jersey and in Manhattan, wrapping in November 2002, and was “pretty stress free,” Smith said.

“...Ben & Jen mania hadn’t even kicked in yet. So those two were together, but we weren’t hounded. There was no paparazzi, no press until we got to New York City for the last two days of the shoot. And then suddenly the paparazzi came out in full force and you started to get the impression that people were really fascinated by this relationship for whatever reason.”

Although “Jersey” doesn’t hit theaters until Mar. 26, Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein is clearly so enthusiastic about the film that in February he handed Smith “The Green Hornet” to write and direct. Miramax hopes that Smith can turn the classic comic book, whose roots are in a radio serial that began in 1936, into a movie franchise.

“He seemed to like our movie enough to give me ‘The Green Hornet,’ which is kind of cool,” Smith observed. “I can’t wait to do it. I’m a huge comic book nut. I did a lot of comic book writing for Marvel and D.C. and I’ve been a reader forever. So the chance to make a comic book movie is a big opportunity for me and it’s one I kind of relish.”