Jennifer Garner’s stark reaction to being cast as ex Ben Affleck’s wife

Jennifer Garner was all set to star in her ex-husband Ben Affleck’s film – until he decided to play her on-screen partner.

The 13 Going on 30 icon, 54, was famously married to the Gone Girl star, also 54, from 2005 until 2018.

Since their split, the couple are said to be on very good terms,  spending a lot of time together for their children: Violet, Seraphina, and Samuel.

However, even their good relationship isn’t strong enough to play husband and wife on screen.

In 2024, the Alias star signed on to Ben’s film Animals, which was about a mayoral candidate whose son is kidnapped.

Jennifer was set to play the candidate’s wife with Matt Damon as the leading man.

‘I thought, “God, Jen Garner would be amazing for this role”,’ the Good Will Hunting star told Entertainment Weekly.

He said there was an ‘added benefit’ of spending time with their kids, sharing: ‘I thought, “Well, we can coordinate our schedules around it.”‘

However, commitments for The Odyssey meant Matt dropped out, so Ben took over the role and his ex-wife promptly exited the film.

Ben talked to Jennifer and she had a rather cutting reply, telling him: ‘We don’t wanna do that. You just get baggage.’

The role ultimately went to Kerry Washington, who was interested in the ‘pretty horrible dynamic’ between the on-screen couple.

Jennifer and Ben previously shared the big screen three times before tying the knot: Pearl Harbour (2001), Daredevil (2003), and Elektra (2005).

Ben said he was keen to collaborate with his ex-wife again, calling her ‘fabulous’ and saying they’re ‘really good friends’.

‘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?’he told the outlet.

Previously, Ben told Metro it’s ‘a lot easier’ to work with someone ‘you love, trust and respect’, although he was speaking about Matt Damon at the time.

He revealed: ‘Sometimes mixing work and personal relationships and stuff can be complicated. Why it’s not is because we both love this job separate and independent of one another and we both understand that you can’t ask a friend to change the rules of the universe to conform to your friendship.’

The pair collaborate frequently with their company Actors Equity and even used to share a bank account during in their early career.