Jennifer Garner says her divorce from Ben Affleck led her to step back from acting for a period. The actress recently opened up about how family changes influenced her work choices. In a new interview, Garner reflected on a challenging chapter in her life and explained how it affected her career. She shared that her focus shifted toward family, which changed the amount of work she took on during those years.
Ben Affleck’s ex-wife Jennifer Garner on how divorce impacted her career
Speaking with InStyle, Jennifer Garner shared that the split brought significant disruption to family life and affected the amount of work she was willing to take on. The actress explained that balancing motherhood and acting had already been challenging because pregnancy, childbirth and recovery naturally required long stretches away from work. After the split, she said she “hardly worked for a long time” as her attention shifted toward helping her family adjust.
Garner and Affleck separated in 2015 after a decade of marriage and finalized their divorce in 2018. They continue to co-parent their three children: Violet, 20, Fin, 17, and Samuel, 14. According to Garner, her kids remain a key factor in how she chooses projects even now. Rather than spending months away filming, she prefers jobs that allow her to stay close to home in Los Angeles.
The actress also acknowledged that acting can be demanding on family life. “It’s all about your schedule,” Garner said, noting that productions do not revolve around school activities, family dinners or daily parenting responsibilities. Still, she said she does not apologize to her children for working. Instead, she thanks them for supporting her career while teaching them that “hard work” and “messing up” are both part of life.
Garner’s career slowdown, however, started before the marriage ended. In a 2021 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Garner recalled repeatedly turning down roles while raising her family. She said her agent once called with an offer for Dallas Buyers Club and joked that the conversation would either be about taking the role or retiring. “I also knew that I didn’t want to be done acting, so I said, ‘OK, I’ll do it,“ Garner said.
Originally reported by Rishabh Shandilya on Mandatory.
