From band geek to Jenna Rink to… chicken owner?!
Jennifer Garner proves there’s no role she can’t do!
Jennifer Garner is a southern girl through and through. She was born on April 17,
1972 in Houston, Texas, though she and her sisters were raised in Charleston, West Virginia.
As she revealed on Kerry Washington's YouTube series "Street You Grew Up On,"
they didn't have much money growing up, which meant that her mom made pretty much everything,
including the clothes they wore and the food they ate.
When Garner made it to high school, she ended up playing the alto saxophone in the marching band,
and she had a very special name for her instrument,
which she later talked about during an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
"Sally the Sexy Saxophone, but you can call her Sally."
"Okay, gotcha."
While marching band might sound dorky and embarrassing to some,
Garner clearly has fond memories of those days. That was evident when she posted a
video of herself at a Texas A&M football game in 2017, along with the caption,
"Once a band geek, always a band geek."
When Garner enrolled at Ohio's Denison University in 1990, she was a chemistry major,
but she soon switched over to theater and graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1994.
And just like the average college student, she had her wild side. While she didn't really
party or drink, she did go streaking during the summers when she worked as a theater apprentice.
"I just was in a naked frame of mind."
"Okay."
"Yeah, we d- I just- I don't think I was the only streaker, but I might
have been the leader of the streakers! And we just all streaked, all summer."
After graduation, Garner did what so many aspiring actors have done before her and
moved to New York City, as she then landed tiny roles on various TV shows like Law & Order and
Spin City. Between gigs, she also worked as a hostess on the Upper West Side alongside
another future star, Elizabeth Banks. But a big change was on the horizon,
as Garner soon landed her life-changing starring role on the ABC spy drama Alias.
Before Alias, Garner guest-starred on a few episodes of another show created by J.J. Abrams:
Felicity. But she wasn't just making important professional connections at
this time. She also met her future first husband, Scott Foley, who played Noel,
one of the main characters. According to him, sparks flew right from the start.
"We hit it off instantly and- and were soon dating."
In 2000, the year before Alias debuted, Garner and Foley got married. Alas,
their union would be short-lived, as they divorced in 2004. When they broke up, Garner
started dating her Alias co-star Michael Vartan, which fueled rumors that their relationship had
been the cause of the split. However, Foley shot down those reports. As he told TV Guide in 2003,
"There was no other relationship, there was no infidelity, nothing."
Alias was truly unlike anything seen before on TV, and so was its lead character,
CIA agent Sydney Bristow. As J.J. Abrams told The Hollywood Reporter in 2021,
"[Garner] had a vulnerability and a kindness in her that was undeniable,
and of course you couldn't take your eyes off of her."
The show was a hit, and Garner was pretty much instantly catapulted to the A-list.
On the series' 20th anniversary in 2020, she recalled the moment she
knew her life would never be the same again, as she told Access Hollywood,
"I went Christmas shopping [...] I was kind of walking
into a store – and every person in the store stopped to talk to me."
In 2002, Garner won a Golden Globe for Lead Actress in a Drama for Alias' first season,
and she was also nominated for an Emmy that same year.
The show undeniably raised her profile and helped land her parts on the big screen,
including the likes of Catch Me If You Can, Daredevil, Elektra, and of course, 13 Going on 30.
Alias rocketed Jennifer Garner to unfathomable fame, but she somehow became even more famous
after starring as Jenna Rink in the 2004 rom-com 13 Going on 30. The movie continues to garner new
fans to this day both young and old. That includes some fellow famous folks like Ariana Grande,
who paid tribute to the movie in 2018 in her "thank u, next" music video.
And in 2021, Netflix's TikTok account posted a mash-up video of 13 Going on 30
along with Garner's new movie Yes Day to spotlight the necklace that she wears in both
films. Simply put, 13 Going on 30's impact continues to be felt all these years later.
Another one of the most important chapters in Jennifer Garner's life is of course when she
met and fell in love with Ben Affleck. They first crossed paths on the set of Pearl Harbor in 2001
while she was still married to Scott Foley. They then reunited while making the 2004
superhero flick Daredevil. Her marriage to Foley still hadn't ended, while Affleck was
dating Jennifer Lopez at the time, but Affleck has admitted that they fell in love on the set.
Later that year Garner and Foley were divorced, and Affleck and Lopez had also called it quits.
By October 2004, Garner and Affleck were photographed together at the World Series in
Boston. They were officially dating at that point, and within a year they were engaged. In June 2005,
they got married in an intimate ceremony officiated by Garner's good friend and Alias
co-star Victor Garber. It was clear that Garner was head-over-heels, as she told Parade Magazine,
"Ben is sexy and kind, but he's also a riot. We can be very goofy together."
Jennifer Garner's life completely transformed when she became a mom. That's pretty typical for
any parent, after all. In December 2005, she and Ben Affleck welcomed their first child together,
a daughter named Violet. Four years later saw the arrival of girl number 2,
Seraphina. And then on February 27, 2012, they had a boy named Samuel.
Now, don't get the idea that any of Garner's pregnancies were particularly chic
just because she's a celebrity. As she admitted to InStyle when she was pregnant with Samuel,
"I wish I was one of those cute pregnant girls
who wear skinny jeans throughout their pregnancies. But I just gain weight."
Over the years, Garner has demonstrated how she's just like any other mom when
it comes to parenting. During a 2016 appearance on the Today show,
she talked about playing moms on screen, as she noted,
"I'm really glad I'm playing moms, because there's no more rich time in women's lives than when you
have your babies, and when you're trying to figure out how to parent them and balance everything."
Garner's life was upended yet again when she and Ben Affleck filed for divorced in 2015
after 10 years of marriage. As the couple said in a statement to People Magazine,
"After much thought and careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to divorce.
We go forward with love and friendship for one another and a commitment to co-parenting
our children whose privacy we ask to be respected during this difficult time."
Then the following year, Garner admitted to Vanity Fair,
"My heart's a little on the tender side right now,
and it's always easier to focus on the ways that you feel hurt, but I know that,
with time and some perspective, I'll have a clearer sense of where I let the system down."
She also lamented about how she wouldn't be dancing with Affleck
at their daughters' weddings one day. But then in a 2021 interview with The Hollywood
Reporter, she indicated that she was in a better place with her ex, as she said,
"When our kids get married, we'll dance,
I know that now. We'll boogaloo and have a great time. I don't worry about that anymore."
In addition to her acting and family life, Jennifer Garner
is committed to her charity work. Mothers and children are very dear to her heart,
as she served as an Artist Ambassador for Save the Children for more than a decade.
"All over the country, we fed kids during the pandemic. We
never fed kids before. We fed them 9.5 million meals so far."
She also paired ​​with Huggies and Baby2Baby in 2016 to help
mothers in need of diapers. As she told Romper,
"The thing that hits me the hardest is that I see these babies and they
have dirty diapers. And I think, 'Wow, this mom must be so stressed. Diapers must be on
such short supply around here that the mom would not give the baby a fresh diaper.'"
Garner also embraced her love of kids by founding an organic baby
food company called Once Upon a Farm. In 2021, the company partnered with
Save the Children in a new initiative. As Garner explained to People Magazine,
"I loved the idea of being part of a business that could have a meaningful impact on Save
the Children's work because I've worked there forever [...] In the very first meeting I said,
'If you really want to connect my heart and soul, connect Once Upon a Farm to Save the Children.'"
Nowadays, Jennifer Garner might be most beloved for showing off her
trademark charm on Instagram. Her feed is a sweet mix of all sorts of passions,
including everything from cooking to dancing to throwbacks of her movies and TV shows.
When she's in the kitchen, her followers have been treated to funny moments and
delicious recipes. She also likes to share cute photos of her adorable pets,
like her chicken Hennifer and her golden retriever
Birdie. There's definitely something for everyone on Garner's social media feed!
We're excited to see where this kind-hearted and beautiful star goes next, and hopefully,
wherever she ends up, she'll have plenty of fun Instagram posts to share along the way!
"I think so many people just adore you, Jennifer."
"Aww."