Ben Affleck has revealed he still wants to reunite with Jennifer Garner on screen – despite deciding casting his ex-wife as his troubled spouse in his new thriller Animals risked bringing too much real-life “baggage” into the film.
The 54-year-old actor and director originally envisaged Jennifer, also 54, and his longtime friend Matt Damon, 55, in leading roles in the Netflix political thriller, which arrives in selected cinemas and on the streaming service on Friday (09.10.26.)
But Matt’s commitment to Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey led to Ben taking the starring role himself, while Kerry Washington, 49, was eventually cast as his wife.
Explaining the decision in an interview with Variety, Ben said: “In a movie, the illusion has to be the thing.”
He added of Jennifer: “And I still want to find something to do with (Jennifer.)”
Animals, which Ben also directs and co-wrote, follows Los Angeles mayoral candidate Mark Kimball and his wife Abigail after their son is kidnapped.
The couple desperately attempt to raise a ransom while secrets emerge from their marriage and the crisis threatens to destroy the life they have built.
Ben told GQ after returning to the project without Matt, he discussed the implications of casting Jennifer as his wife.
He said: “At that point, I talked to Jen and she was like, ‘Yeah, we can’t…’. Speaking of the headwinds and audience perception – history has shown that’s a bad idea because the audience brings all this stuff to it in a negative way. Though I would love to work with Jennifer Garner, she’s brilliant.”
Ben and Jennifer separated in 2015 after a decade of marriage and finalised their divorce in 2018.
They share three children – Violet, 20, Fin, 17, and Samuel, 14.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly in September about the decision not to cast Jennifer, Ben said: “I would love to work with her, frankly. She’s fabulous, and we’re really good friends, and I’m profoundly grateful to her, and we have a great thing.
“I still would wanna work with her in the future, but what you don’t wanna do is take the audience’s baggage and have it work against you, you know?”
The former couple have previously appeared together on screen.
They both featured in the 2001 blockbuster Pearl Harbor before starring opposite each other in 2003 superhero film Daredevil, in which Ben played the title character and Jennifer portrayed Elektra Natchios.
Ben’s career has also included Gone Girl, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and his Oscar-winning directing and producing success Argo.
He and Matt won the original screenplay Oscar for their breakthrough 1997 film Good Will Hunting.
This week, Ben and Kerry recreated the film’s famous bar scene as part of the promotional campaign for Animals, with Kerry taking over Matt’s role in the sequence.
The actor has also been discussing his personal life while promoting the film, including the deaths of both his parents this year and his determination to prioritise his children.
Ben told GQ the experiences had made him reflect on mortality, family and how he wanted to spend his time.
His latest film also arrives after the end of his second marriage, to Jennifer Lopez, 57.
Ben and Jennifer married in 2022 after rekindling their relationship almost two decades after ending their original engagement, but their divorce was finalised in 2025.
