Ben Affleck Explains Why Ex-Wife Jennifer Garner Turned Down Role in His New Movie 'Animals' | Just Jared

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner almost shared the screen again after 13 years!

If you didn’t know, Ben and Jennifer, both 54, first shared the screen in 2001’s Pearl Harbor and later again in 2003’s Daredevil. They started dating in 2004 and married in 2005. After 10 years of marriage, they split in 2015 and finalized their divorce in 2018.

The two have remained very friendly as they co-parent their three kids.

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ben revealed that he offered Jennifer a role in his new directorial feature Animals, which centers around the kidnapping of a Los Angeles mayoral hopeful’s son.

Jennifer would have played the politician’s wife.

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“I thought, ‘God, Jen Garner would be amazing for this role,’” Ben recalled thinking, explaining that there was also the “added benefit” that they could spend more time with their kids. “I thought, ‘Well, we can coordinate our schedules around it.'”

Originally, Ben‘s longtime close friend, and frequent collaborator, Matt Damon was going to play the politician, but he later dropped out due to his filming schedule for The Odyssey.

When Ben decided to step in and replace Matt as the lead role, he “talked to Jen, and she was like, ‘We don’t wanna do that. You just get baggage.'”

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After Jennifer opted not to play the wife, Kerry Washington was cast in the role.

Still, Ben said he “would love” to collaborate with his ex-wife again in the future.

“She’s fabulous, and we’re really good friends, and I’m profoundly grateful to her, and we have a great thing,” the Oscar winner raved. “I still would wanna work with her in the future, but what you don’t wanna do is take the audience’s baggage and have it work against you, you know?'”

Animals hits Netflix and theaters on October 9. Watch the trailer here!

Posted To:Animals Ben Affleck Jennifer Garner Movies