JENNIFER LOPEZ and her new boyfriend Ben Affleck are hopelessly in love — according to Affleck’s best pal.

　　Kevin Smith, who directed Affleck in Mallrats, Chasing Amy and Dogma, has brought the pair together again as onscreen lovers in upcoming movie Jersey Girl.

　　And Smith says there is no doubt the pair are a couple, because the atmosphere on set is electric.

　　He says, “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. 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 which were nothing short of spellbinding.”

　　It’s not the first time the lovers have acted together — they first met on the set of recent collaboration Gigli.

　　(SD-Agencies)