The Truth About Jennifer Lopez's Son, Maximilian David Muñiz

Jennifer Lopez's kids, twins Emme and Maximilian Muñiz, have all but grown up. It seems like just yesterday the superstar was announcing her pregnancy with her then-husband, Marc Anthony. But in actuality, 14 years have passed since the world welcomed the Muñizes, and the twins have grown up to be intelligent, well-mannered children who just happen to be following their famous parents' footsteps into the entertainment industry. 

The world was introduced to Emme's stage presence at the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show, where she joined mom J.Lo, Shakira, J Balvin, and Bad Bunny on stage to sing part of "Let's Get Loud" and "Born in the U.S.A." Though Emme and Max seem to spend a lot of time together, he let his sister steal the Super Bowl spotlight. But that doesn't mean that he's content to sit in the background all the time. 

In fact, Max is becoming a budding star in his own right, having joined his mom on screen in one of her recent films and appearing alongside the rest of his family in a few ad campaigns. But just who is the kid who's hammed it up on red carpets and performed on his mom's IG page? Here's the untold truth of Maximilian David Muñiz. 

When Emme Muñiz took the Super Bowl stage, it became crystal clear that she is absolutely Jennifer Lopez's mini-me, and in what should come as no surprise, Emme's brother, Max, looks just like his dad, Marc Anthony. Lopez and Anthony were married from June 2004 to June 2014, per Heavy, and the "Waiting For Tonight" singer gave birth to the twins in February 2008, according to People. Her manager told the magazine, "Jennifer and Marc are delighted, thrilled and over the moon." 

Despite their split, Lopez and Anthony have maintained an amicable co-parenting relationship. She even wished him a happy Father's Day in 2019, writing on Instagram: "Emme and Max love you soooo much!! Thank you for these two beautiful coconuts!!! Feliz Día Del Padre!!!" Lopez also said she and Anthony are "like best friends" during a "Live With Kelly" interview in 2017, per Us Weekly. It's great to hear they get along so well, especially for their kids' sake.

And we can't wait to continue to watch Max potentially follow in his father's footsteps and grow into the amazing man we know he will be! 

On the twins' 11th birthday in February 2019, J.Lo shared a video where Max Muñiz sang in the background as photos played in a collage. Lopez wrote, "Happy Birthday my lil beautiful coconut brilliant boy. Mommy is so proud of you!!! #foreverlove." 

That's not the only time the youngster has shown off his vocal skill, either. In September 2019, Lopez shared a video of Muñiz singing "Riptide" by Vance Joy as his sister strummed a guitar. Talk about a talented family, huh?

According to the Latin Times, Lopez discussed her kids' personalities in an "Extra" interview back in 2015. "Their personalities are beautiful; they're like yin and yang. They stay true to who they were from when they were born," she said. "Emme is like a mini-me; Max is really like a mini Marc. They're complete opposites. But she's like super focused and super sensitive, quiet and focused and he's kind of off the charts, lots of energy, super funny." She also added, "They both love music. They both asked to take piano lessons and voice lessons." No wonder they're already singing like pros.

As a celebrity, Jennifer Lopez is no stranger to interviews, but in April 2019, she decided to switch things up and have her own kids ask the hard questions. The video, titled "Twin Talk: AMA With Emme & Max" is as adorable as it is informative. Max Muñiz's bubbly, goofy personality shone as he asked questions like, "What was the most trouble you got in when you were my age?" 

Lopez responded: "I was a little bit like Max. I used to like to run and play, but that's not how I got in trouble." Lopez admitted that she got in trouble for sneaking out of her room and getting caught. Other questions ranged from "Did you think math was useless?" to "Were you short when you were my age?" (For the record, Max was shorter than his sister at the time).

But when asked which twin was her favorite, Lopez gave a diplomatic mom answer: "I don't believe in favorites ... I love you both so much." When Max tweaked the question and asked what her favorite thing about him was, Lopez picked "his sense of humor and his incredible vocabulary. Also, your big heart — you have an enormous heart ... and I love that about you."

Maximilian Muñiz formed quite a close bond with the new man in his life during his mom Jennifer Lopez's now former romance with baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez. Lopez dished on her son and A-Rod's relationship during Oprah Winfrey's "2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus" event in March 2020, telling Winfrey (via People), "[Max] said something like, 'Alex is the only one who ever doesn't ever get mad at me.' Because Max is the one who always gets in trouble in the house." She explained that Rodriguez, a dad to two girls from a previous relationship, showed a lot of compassion to her son, sharing, "[Max is] all over the place and he's the most beautiful boy and the most loving boy. But he will knock this over in a second. ... All you hear through the house is 'Max!' all the time. And Alex had this amazing patience with him."

That June, Lopez and Rodriguez surprised Muñiz with a new dog. The "On The Floor" hitmaker shared an adorable video to Instagram that showed him playing with his furry new friend as she revealed they were working on a name.

Around a year earlier, Lopez shared another sweet glimpse of Muñiz and A-Rod's close bond when she posted an Instagram photo of the two in matching plaid pajamas standing in the exact same pose. "These two ... twinning," she captioned the shot, according to People, though it appears to have been deleted.

It sounds like Alex Rodriguez isn't the only one of his mom's boyfriends who Max Muñiz gets along well with. In the wake of Jennifer Lopez's 2020 split with A-Rod, she quickly recoupled with her former fiancé Ben Affleck — and it wasn't long before Muñiz was spending time with the "Armageddon" actor, too. 

Life & Style reported that the couple enjoyed a day out with Muñiz in Los Angeles in May 2022, claiming the boys found it pretty easy to forge a friendship and loved to talk about things like Batman (Affleck's own superhero role, no less!) cars, movies, and video games. "Ben's relationships with his own kids is what makes him so relatable. Ben knows how to engage kids and make them feel comfortable," a source told In Touch Weekly of the star, who is dad to two daughters, Violet and Seraphina, and a son, Samuel.

The blended family been spotted in different combinations enjoying more quality time on multiple occasions since as well, including in June 2022 when Hello! reported that Lopez and Affleck gathered all five of their kids together for a fun shopping trip to a Los Angeles mall. Looks like this is one big, happy, blended family!

Though he may have only been 11 years old at the time, Max Muñiz was set to have a very important role if his mom, Jennifer Lopez, had made it down the aisle to marry Alex Rodriguez. Lopez told ET in 2020 that she planned for her only son to walk her down the aisle, saying "of course" when asked if Muñiz would take on the big responsibility. It's not clear if Lopez planned to have the youngster do it alone, or if he'd have been flanked on the other side of the star by her own father.

A source dished a little more on Lopez's plans for the nuptials to People before things got called off. The source claimed that all four of the couple's kids would have been a big part of the wedding, referring to Muñiz, his twin sister, Emme, and Rodriguez's two daughters, Natasha and Ella, whom he shares with his former wife, Cynthia Scurtis. "The kids are amazing together. And they have wanted Jennifer and Alex to get married for a long time," the insider said in March 2020. "They will all definitely be a huge part of the wedding." 

As for whether Muñiz will finally get to take on walking-down-the-aisle duties now that Lopez is engaged once again to Ben Affleck? We'll just have to wait and see!

Did you know that Maximilian Muñiz is also a professional actor? Jennifer Lopez's son made his debut in her 2022 romantic comedy "Marry Me," which also starred Owen Wilson and Sarah Silverman. "He didn't want to do it, really, but there were other children in the family who encouraged him saying: 'Do it, do it, you're going to enjoy it.' He had a great time and he wants to do it more. He wants to be an actor," Lopez explained on the Spanish language show "El Gordo Y La Flaca" (via El Diario). "It's not that he's shy, but I think he wants to be more of a voice actor because he has a very different voice, and he can put on very different voices," she continued. "But he will do what he wants."

Muñiz is credited as playing Numerator Max in the movie, per IMDb, and currently has a few other credits to his name. As well as popping up in the rom-com, the actor is also credited in his mom's documentary movie, "Jennifer Lopez: Dance Again" — which gave fans a peek behind the scenes as J.Lo headed out on her Dance Again World Tour in 2012 — plus her 2022 Netflix documentary, "Halftime," which showed what went into her 2020 Super Bowl halftime show with Shakira.

But Muñiz has appeared in front of fans on more than just the big and small screen.

Maximilian Muñiz is also a model in the making. Technically, he became a published model after he appeared with his family — mom Jennifer Lopez, twin sister Emme, and grandmother Guadalupe Rodríguez — in a promotion for Coach back in 2020. The foursome posed together for several stunning snaps as part of the fashion brand's Coach Family and Coach Holiday campaigns, which included them having a picnic together and playing on a tire swing. 

"What does a modern family look like? There's not one single definition. It's not about perfection. It's about acceptance, where everyone can be their true authentic selves around each other. I mean, look at us," Lopez said at the time. Coach creative director Stuart Vevers also spoke about the shoot to British Vogue, telling the outlet, "I am proud to share stories with our Coach Family about the people that matter most in their lives — relationships that are authentic and timeless."

So, could Muñiz follow in his famous parents' footsteps and make a foray into the world of celebrity as a model or actor? Lopez admitted on British morning show "Lorraine" in 2019 that it wouldn't surprise her if Muñiz or his sister became entertainers in some capacity. "They have seen me manage it in a normal way. We're a normal family and while we are an entertainment family, we still have routine, boundaries, and rules like every kid has, but most importantly love," she said.

Not only is Maximilian Muñiz super talented in his own right, but he also knows how to use his family's platform for good. Jennifer Lopez has opened up about how her son urged her to publicly support important causes after he realized that Lopez has a lot of fans. "He wanted me to make sure I realized that I had power and that I should use it, and I thought that was very insightful," she told Elle in January 2021, explaining Muñiz encouraged her and her then-fiancé, Alex Rodriguez, to attend a Black Lives Matter protest. Calling it "very empowering," she shared that both Muñiz and his sister, Emme, helped make signs to carry and called being in attendance during the protest historic.

Lopez had previously given an insight into her twins' passion for activism on Instagram in June 2020, when she shared video footage of herself and Rodriguez marching. "Max told me a few days ago: 'you know mom, since you have a following like some of my YouTuber gamers and they ask us to support things and we do, you should do that for George Floyd.' I said, 'funny you say that baby, I am planning a few things. Do you want to help by making a sign?' And they did!!" she told fans in the caption. 

Lopez then explained how that opened up a dialogue about human rights between herself and her very smart kids.

It turns out Maximilian Muñiz isn't afraid to dish out a little fashion advice, particularly when it comes to his mom. Jennifer Lopez revealed in a 2017 interview on "Build Series" — alongside her late "Shades of Blue" co-star Ray Liotta and conducted by her sister, Lynda Lopez — that Muñiz had a special request for her often-a-little-skimpy on stage costumes. "You know what Max said to me the other day?" she began. "You know, because I wear, like, bodysuits and, like, onesies and all that stuff, 'Mom. Why don't you wear pants in your shows? You should wear pants more.'" Lynda then jokingly chimed in of her nephew: "That's why I love that boy!" while Jennifer quipped, "I was like, 'Okay, you. You're not my husband!' ... He's very possessive." She then admitted she explained they were just costumes, describing herself as "a showgirl."

But it sounds like Muñiz may be in the minority when it comes to not exactly loving his mom's clothes. Lopez revealed while she was still with Alex Rodriguez in 2019 that his daughter, Ella Rodriguez, called dibs on some of her wardrobe, as had her own daughter, Emme. 

"Ella told me, 'I want your white Grammy dress with the Orchid,' and Emme is like, 'What about that [dress], mommy? Are we gonna keep that? Don't throw that out.' They tell me all the time," J.Lo told ET. We wonder if Muñiz has his eye on something from Ben Affleck's wardrobe?