Ben Affleck Opens Up About Why Jennifer Garner Said No to His Thriller *Animals*

In a surprisingly candid chat with Entertainment Weekly, Ben Affleck let slip why his former wife, Jennifer Garner, declined to appear in his sixth directorial effort, the tense drama Animals.

The movie follows a Los Angeles mayoral hopeful whose son is abducted, and Garner was originally slated to play the husband’s wife – a character whose marriage is already on shaky ground. Affleck admitted he thought, “God, Jen would be amazing for this role,” especially since it would have let both of them coordinate schedules around their three kids – Violet (20), Seraphina (17) and Samuel (14).

But the timing got messy. Production was pushed back, and Matt Damon, who was supposed to star opposite Garner, had to bow out because of his own commitments to The Odyssey. When Damon left, Affleck stepped into the male lead himself and reached out to Garner to see if she’d still be interested.

Garner’s answer was simple and a little painful: “We don’t want to do that. You just get baggage.” In her view, sharing the screen with an ex‑spouse could bring the audience’s memories into the story and mess with the film’s believability. So she walked away, preferring not to muddy the waters.

The part didn’t stay vacant for long. Kerry Washington eventually signed on, drawn to the “pretty horrible dynamic” between the on‑screen couple. She said the script fascinated her because it explored how a crisis can either tighten a marriage or tear it apart.

Even after the whole episode, Affleck says he’d still love to work with Garner again. “She’s fabulous, we’re good friends, and I’m profoundly grateful,” he said, adding that he doesn’t want the audience’s baggage to work against a project. Their split may be over a decade old, but the two seem to have settled into a surprisingly amicable post‑marriage rhythm.