Jennifer Garner is getting candid about the family shake-up that changed how she worked, parented and rebuilt her life after Ben Affleck.
The ’13 Going on 30′ star spoke to InStyle in an interview published June 3, where she reflected on motherhood, career pauses and the cost of being away from home. Garner, 54, shares three children with Affleck: Violet, 20, Seraphina, 17, and Samuel, 14.
For Garner, parenting did not just change her schedule. It changed the way she viewed the acting business altogether.
Jennifer Garner Says Motherhood Changed Her Career
Garner said she stepped back from acting after she and Affleck welcomed their children. The decision was not about losing ambition. It was about the reality of pregnancy, recovery and raising young kids.
“When you’re in a performance-driven role, you essentially forfeit a year to 18 months of work while pregnant, giving birth, and recovering,” she said.
Garner briefly returned with the Oscar-winning ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ in 2013. Then came another major shift. She and Affleck separated in 2015 after marrying in 2005. Their divorce was finalized in 2018.
“When my children were young, I worked minimally,” Garner said. “Then, our family experienced such upheaval that I barely worked for an extended period.”
Why Garner Calls Acting A Selfish Job
Garner now balances acting with her role at Once Upon a Farm, the organic baby food company she leads. She said she has become very selective about new projects, especially when filming would pull her away from Los Angeles.
“This profession is inherently self-centered,” Garner said. “It revolves around your schedule, not your children’s school activities. It’s not about managing pick-ups, drop-offs, or making it home for dinner.”
Still, Garner said she does not apologize to her children when work takes her away. She prefers gratitude over guilt.
“When I’m working, I don’t apologize to my kids for it,” she said. “I do express gratitude for their understanding. But it’s a part of life.”
That sounds like a working-mom line many parents will understand fast. The juggle is not pretty every day. Garner knows that, and she does not pretend otherwise.
Ben Affleck Divorce Still Shaped Her Family View
Garner has also been open about how difficult the divorce from Affleck was for the family. In a Marie Claire UK interview published January 7, she said media attention was painful, but it was not the hardest part.
“The real difficulty lay in the dissolution of our family,” Garner said. “The loss of a genuine partnership and friendship was truly hard.”
Garner, who has since been linked to businessman John C. Miller, also discussed co-parenting from separate homes.
“You lose the benefit of having both sides of the yin and yang under one roof,” she said in a February Bustle interview. “There’s some loss in that, but there’s also something gained.”
Now, Garner says she relates to her role in ‘The Five-Star Weekend,’ the TV adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand’s novel. She plays Hollis Shaw, a widowed food blogger and mother.
The connection makes sense. Garner is still fully in mom mode. But she also sounds ready to reclaim more of herself.
