Ben Affleck revealed why Jennifer Garner turned down the role of his onscreen wife in the upcoming crime thriller Animals. The actor explained that Garner chose not to play an onscreen couple with her ex-husband. The former couple was married for 10 years before separating in 2015 and finalizing their divorce in October 2018.
Jennifer Garner passed on the Netflix movie after Ben Affleck became its male lead
While promoting his upcoming Netflix film in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the Oscar winner said Garner and Matt Damon were initially considered to lead the film. However, Damon had to step away due to his role in The Odyssey. Affleck, also the film’s director, eventually took on the role of mayoral candidate Mark Kimball himself.
The 54-year-old said, “I thought, God, Jen Garner would be amazing for this role. It also has the added benefit of, like, both of us will see our kids more because we do a week and a week and back and forth. I thought, well, we can coordinate our schedules around it.” He said he discussed the possibility with Garner, saying, “I talked to Jen, and she was like, ‘We don’t want to do that. You just get baggage.’”
The role later went to Kerry Washington after Garner decided not to take it on. Affleck, however, made it clear that he would still love to work with her. “She’s fabulous, and we’re really good friends. I’m profoundly grateful to her, and we have a great thing. I still would wanna work with her in the future,” he said.
Garner and Affleck previously starred together in Pearl Harbor (2001) and Daredevil (2003). The couple, who were married from 2005 to 2018, share three children: Violet, 20, Fin, 17, and Samuel, 14. The film, which marks another directorial project for Affleck, is slated to arrive in select U.S. theaters and on Netflix on October 9.
