Ben Affleck pointed out a significant similarity between his ex-wife Jennifer Garner and his Animals costar Kerry Washington.
“You and Jen Garner, by the way — talk about twin spirits. You’re the two — the only people I know who regularly bake for the crew,” Affleck, 54, shared on a recent episode of Washington’s “Street You Grew Up On” podcast.
The actor joked that Garner, 54, and Washington’s kindness reflected badly on him, adding, “It’s like this is the category of people who make you feel like an ass no matter how hard you try. Because Kerry and Jen are always doing you one step better with everybody else.”
Affleck added that he’s struggled to bring the same energy on set.
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner have been coparenting pros since their 2015 split. The exes became parents with the birth of their daughter Violet in December 2005, followed by Seraphina in January 2009 and Samuel in February 2012. Affleck and Garner announced they were separating after 10 years of marriage in June 2015 via a […]
“I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m gonna get something, like a wrap gift for the [crew],’ and they’re like, ‘So did you get Kerry’s donuts today? Tomorrow she’s doing Halloween muffins,’” he recalled before referring to what Washington does as “amazing” and “a gift.”
Affleck and Washington, 49, play husband and wife in Netflix’s Animals, which he also wrote and directed. Washington’s role was originally supposed to go to Garner, with Matt Damon playing Affleck’s character.
“I thought, ‘God, Jen Garner would be amazing for this role,’” Affleck told Entertainment Weekly in September. “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.’”
Affleck added: “She can bring something interesting that she hasn’t [done], that I kind of know she can do, that I don’t think she had a chance to do in one movie.”
Animals was briefly put on pause before Affleck returned to the project. Damon, 55, was ultimately unavailable due to his commitment to The Odyssey, so Affleck took over the lead role.
Ben Affleck revealed why he recast Jennifer Garner after she was originally meant to play his wife in his new movie. Affleck, 54, explained in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that his film Animals initially went into production in January 2024. His longtime collaborator and friend Matt Damon was set to play the lead, while […]
“I talked to Jen, and she was like, ‘We don’t wanna do that. You just get baggage,’” he said about the decision for them not to play spouses on screen.
Affleck didn’t rule out reuniting with Garner on a different project in the future, saying, “I would love to work with her, frankly. She’s fabulous, and we’re really good friends, and I’m profoundly grateful to her, and we have a great thing.”
He concluded: “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 October 9.
