Celebrity3 min(s) read
Jennifer Garner was set to star in Ben Affleck's upcoming film, but she was replaced for one important reason.
The former couple was one of the hottest items in Hollywood throughout the 2000s, but they underwent an amicable divorce in the mid-2010s, after having three children together.
But the couple could have been back on the big screen together - more than two decades after their first joint feature - as soon as next month.
Upcoming Netflix thriller Animals will be released next month, and it's been revealed that Garner was in line to play Affleck's character's wife, a role now taken up by Kerry Washington.
However, production was pushed back - having been scheduled for the start of 2024, it was halted and by the time it returned, things had changed.
Animals was originally set to star Matt Damon as lead character Mark Kimball, with Garner set to play his love interest.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the former DC star admitted: “I thought, God, Jen Garner would be amazing for this role.
“It also has the added benefit of - both of us will see our kids more because we do a week and a week and back and forth," he admitted.
But as production was pushed back, Damon was no longer available on the new schedule due to his part in Christopher Nolan's 2026 epic, The Odyssey.
So with his best friend and longtime collaborator out of the picture, Affleck took the lead role on himself, which meant he would have played Garner's on-screen husband.
For context, the trailer features the couple shouting at each other as part of a rough marriage - something the pair may not want to reenact.
Affleck admitted: “I talked to Jen, and she was like, ‘We don’t wanna do that. You just get baggage,’ telling the outlet that 'you don't want to take the audience's baggage and have it work against you'.
Washington would replace Garner, though Affleck stated that he would 'love' to work with Garner, a 'good friend', in the future.
Affleck, 54, and Garner, 54, met on the set of 2001's Pearl Harbor, before publicly revealing their relationship in 2004.
The Good Will Hunting star would propose a year later, and they tied the knot later that year, before announcing that they were expecting their first child.
The celebrity couple was married for 13 years before finalizing their divorce in 2018, though they have maintained a strong co-parenting relationship for their three children.
Affleck would tie the knot with former girlfriend Jennifer Lopez in 2022, before ending that relationship just two years later.
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