A marriage mangled by fame. On-screen chemistry that led to real-life love.
A devastating divorce. Jennifer Garner has had some sky-high
Hollywood hits — but romance-wise, some of her past relationships have missed the mark.
Jennifer Garner met first husband, Scott Foley,
in 1998 on the set of "Felicity." Foley starred as charmingly nerdy Noel on the WB hit show,
and Garner guest-starred for two episodes as his girlfriend. Eventually, life began to imitate
art. In an interview with Andy Cohen, Foley recalled the beginning of their relationship.
"We met on the show and ... we hit it off instantly and were soon dating."
The couple remained together for a total of five years,
having married in 2000. Garner said of the relationship in a 2013 interview with Allure,
"We were full-on grown-ups, but looking back, I'm aware we did not know what hit us."
Rumors about the couple's demise began swirling after the 2003 Academy
Awards when Garner arrived on the red carpet without Foley by her side. As it turned out,
fans who speculated about the state of Jennifer Garner's marriage to Scott Foley were spot-on.
Divorce papers show the official date of the couple's split as March 23, 2003, the date of the
Academy Awards. The couple officially announced their breakup on April 1. She told Parade,
"I had a lot of growing up to do. I don't like to argue. But back then I couldn't
have a fight. I couldn't work things out because I wasn't able to say what I needed
to say. I didn't have a voice ... So I went to work on it. I started therapy."
The divorce papers cited irreconcilable differences, and in a 2003 interview with TV
Guide, Scott Foley gave his side of the story. He denounced rumors of Jennifer Garner's infidelity,
instead placing the blame on her newfound fame. He said,
"Jennifer became a huge celebrity. She became
a huge star, and she deserved everything she got. There was no other relationship,
there was no infidelity, nothing. People get divorced, you know?"
By that time, Garner had landed a starring role on the TV series "Alias" and would
soon rocket to stardom with her iconic role in "13 Going on 30." For her part,
she also seemed to partly blame their Hollywood lifestyle for the breakup, telling InStyle,
"Everything is speeded up here—it is a fast-lane life, and if something is not
working, it is considered best to end it without much thought. If we lived where I
was brought up [West Virginia], we would probably still be together."
The divorce was finalized in March 2004, which leaves the question:
are Garner and Foley on good terms these days? On "Andy Cohen Live" in 2021, Foley said of Garner,
"I mean, we do not keep in contact because she has
her own family. I have mine. It wouldn't be something that we would search out."
In 2001, Jennifer Garner landed a starring role on the ABC series "Alias." On the show,
Garner played Sydney Bristow, a grad student turned international spy. Michael Vartan played
CIA agent — and love interest — Michael Vaughn opposite Garner. Fans of the show shipped the
couple hard. Apparently, the chemistry was not limited to Bristow and Vaughn,
as Garner and Vartan became a real-life couple as well. In August 2003, a publicist for Garner
confirmed the couple's romance, telling Us Weekly they had recently started dating. Sadly,
the romance lasted only a year, and the pair broke up in 2004. However,
it was not an ugly break-up, and the couple remained close. Vartan told USA Today,
"We're much better off as friends."
In the same interview, he revealed that Garner told him about her
engagement to Ben Affleck before it was announced publicly. He admitted,
"On the surface, it could have been a recipe for disaster. But Jennifer
and I were best friends first, during (the romance) and after."
"We never kept secrets from each other. I'm still on your side."
In a show of true maturity, he added that although he hadn't met Affleck at the time,
he'd thought their love was genuine and hoped for a role in one of Ben's next movies.
It seems Garner and Vartan's friendship stayed strong throughout the years. In 2015,
OK! reported that Garner had turned to Vartan for support when her marriage to Affleck was
on the rocks. In 2018, Garner shared a sweet Instagram post for Vartan's 50th birthday.
The throwback pic of the two from their "Alias" days was accompanied by the caption,
"Can you believe this baby face is 50?! Happy birthday,
#MichaelVartan. #alwaysanALIASgirl #sydneyandvaughnforever."
The message had fans hoping for a rekindled romance, but it was not in the cards. When
asked by E! News if he would consider getting back with his ex, Vartan said,
"I don't think so. If it didn't work once, there's a reason it didn't work.
I am single. Single for life, unless she has four legs. That's a whole different story."
In terms of an "Alias" reboot, he told ET in 2017,
"'Alias' remains one of my favorite memories of all time. When you work with people,
especially people who are so incredible ... you really become a family."
While Jennifer Garner initially met Ben Affleck in 2000 while filming "Pearl Harbor," it would be
years before the two became romantically involved. Affleck said in a 2017 Playboy interview,
"... We fell in love on 'Daredevil.' By the way, she won most of the fights in the movie,
which was a pretty good predictor of what would happen down the road."
"Daredevil" came out in 2003 while Garner and Affleck were with their respective partners.
Garner told Parade in 2010 that she and Affleck would exchange emails, and he won her over with
his writing skills. The couple went public with their relationship in October of 2004,
when they were seen cozied up together at a Red Sox World Series game. At that point,
Garner had broken up with Michael Vartan and Affleck had called off his engagement to
Jennifer Lopez, who he had been with since 2002. The couple appeared to be blissfully in love,
and Affleck proposed to Garner on her 33rd birthday, April 17, 2005. Garner and Affleck
were married in a private ceremony in the Caribbean in June of 2005. The wedding was
officiated by Garner's friend and "Alias" co-star Victor Garber. Garner was newly
pregnant at the time of the nuptials with her and Affleck's first child, daughter Violet.
Violet Anne Affleck was born in December 2005, and their family continued to grow. Jennifer Garner
and Ben Affleck welcomed daughter Seraphina Rose Elizabeth Affleck in 2009 and son, Samuel Garner
Affleck, in 2012. In 2010, Affleck joked in an interview on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show,"
"I have three women in the house. I get to be wrong three times a day."
The couple seemed very happy,
taking opportunities to publicly gush about one another. Garner told InStyle,
"I would do anything for that man, because I know it's not taken for granted."
In a 2007 interview with Marie Claire, Garner said,
"I don't know what makes it work. But it does. One thing that makes it not not work
is that we're both pretty nice. He's not someone who's ever going to blow up on
anyone ... We can handle conflict in a very loving and adult way."
And in 2013, Affleck won the Golden Globe for Best Director for his work on the film
"Argo." In his acceptance speech, he looked out into the audience and told Garner,
"I adore you, I love you. You're my everything."
While all seemed well on the surface, Jennifer Garner's marriage to Ben
Affleck was plagued by difficulties. Among them was Affleck's drinking,
which he admitted was a factor in the downfall of the marriage. He told Howard Stern,
"I was like 'I can't leave 'cause of my kids, but I'm not happy, what do I do?' What I did was
drink a bottle of scotch and fall asleep on the couch, which turned out not to be the solution."
Another troubling revelation came in 2015 when Garner and Affleck's nanny, Christine Ouzounian,
told friends she'd had an affair with Affleck. A source told People that Christine was in love with
him. Affleck denied the reports, and a rep for the actor said the story was full of lies. Garner and
Affleck announced their split in June 2015, and their divorce was finalized in 2018. It seems both
parties were heartbroken over the marriage ending. Affleck told The New York Times in February 2020,
"The biggest regret of my life is this divorce."
In a candid interview with Vanity Fair in 2016, Garner said,
"I didn't marry the big fat movie star; I married him. And I would go back and
remake that decision. I ran down the beach to him, and I would again. You
can't have these three babies and so much of what we had. He's the love of my life."
Jennifer Garner has been dating businessman John Miller on and off
since 2018. The couple is currently on and going strong. Miller, the CEO of CaliBurger,
was still married when he met Garner, but divorced his wife a month later.
Garner and Miller broke up briefly in 2020 but reunited less than a year later. The reason for
the brief split was that Miller was ready for marriage again, while Garner was not.
"We all just need an adventure with lots of talking and then probably mix in some kid time."
Since getting back together, the couple seems to be happier
than ever. Between her relationship with Miller, her time with her kids,
and her still-strong acting career, Garner is flourishing. Friends of
Garner's say she is happy to not be dating a celebrity for once. A source told Us Weekly,
"She loves how little he cares for the limelight or the whole Hollywood scenester stuff... Very
different from Ben and J. Lo's relationship in that way. You'll never see them ham it up
for the cameras or fixate about what events to attend together, it's just not their style."
Perhaps Jennifer Garner has finally found long-lasting love.