Jennifer Lopez's rom-coms face this 'challenge' with her leading men

KiMi Robinson, USA TODAYThu, June 4, 2026 at 12:15 PM UTC

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In the new Netflix rom-com "Office Romance," Jennifer Lopez is Helen of Troy, while her leading man Brett Goldstein is more like Mr. Bean. It's what viewers are likely thinking anyway, but Goldstein – and "Ted Lasso" co-creator Joe Kelly – beat everyone to the punch by addressing the attractiveness discrepancy in the film's dialogue.

Director Ol Parker admits making their attraction to each other realistic was "one of the challenges with this movie."

"She's a megastar. She explodes off the screen, and also in life, she's a larger-than-life figure," he tells USA TODAY. "So the men, quite often, that she's cast with are sort of slightly lesser than her. And Brett is phenomenally successful in his own right, but there's only one J.Lo.

"So one of the challenges for all of us was to sort of put Brett on an equal [footing] to make them into a pairing rather than just a mismatched couple."

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Jennifer Lopez as Jackie Cruz and Brett Goldstein as Daniel Blanchflower in "Office Romance."

Goldstein, 45, and Kelly wrote "Office Romance" with Lopez in mind because "she's the best rom-com actor," while Lopez, 56, signed on to the project because the script was "a little different from the other romantic comedies that I made, which are very sweet and wholesome," according to the film's production notes.

Lopez plays Jackie Cruz, the CEO of her family's airline, while Goldstein plays attorney Daniel Blanchflower, who suddenly gets promoted as the company's in-house lawyer. Despite the office's ban on workplace fraternization, sparks fly as they team up to battle various baseless lawsuits AirCruz faces. And of course they have no option but to give into their desires during a tropical work trip to the Dominican Republic.

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Brett Goldstein and Jennifer Lopez attend the "Office Romance" U.K. premiere at BFI Southbank on June 3, 2026, in London.

They both have secrets that heighten the tension between them: an incarcerated sister, played by Jodie Whittaker, for Daniel, and a fetish for all things British on Jackie's part that works in Daniel's favor.

"Luckily he's so funny and so handsome and so charismatic and so good. And he wrote it for himself, so he put it in his own wheelhouse," Parker says. "It was just so organic, and she's so great and generous as an actor."

Or, as Goldstein put it during a "Today" show appearance, "She can have chemistry with a bin."

Goldstein and Lopez's promotional appearances for the film have sparked online chatter about a real-life romance, as it seems that, for all intents and purposes, both are single.

Lopez acknowledged on "Today" that speculation about her personal life is routine for her.

"There's never a time when I'm seen with somebody or working with somebody where they don't try to put me with the person," she said, before confirm they are "not dating."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Office Romance' star JLo's rom-coms face challenge with her lead men

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