Ben Affleck decided to recast the part of his love interest in his movie “Animals” after offering it to ex-wife Jennifer Garner because he thought the on-screen pairing would come with a lot of “baggage.”
“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 filmmaker told Entertainment Weekly Monday.
In the interview, Affleck explained “Animals” initially went into production in January 2024 with his longtime collaborator and friend Matt Damon set to play the lead.
That’s why he had Garner in mind to play the love interest role.
“I thought, ‘God, Jen Garner would be amazing for this role,’” he recalled. “She can bring something interesting that she hasn’t [done], that I kind of know she can do, that I don’t think she had a chance to do in one movie.”
Casting her in the project would also make co-parenting their three kids easier for them.
“It also has the added benefit of, like, both of us will see our kids more because we do a week and a week and back and forth. I thought, ‘Well, we can coordinate our schedules around it.’”
However, “Animals” was briefly put on pause, and when Affleck returned to the project, Damon was unavailable due to his commitment to “The Odyssey.”
Affleck ultimately cast himself as the lead and recast Garner’s character with Kerry Washington. She plays the wife in a complicated marriage to Affleck’s mayoral candidate as the couple scrambles to raise money to pay a ransom while confronting a web of dark secrets.
The Oscar winner noted that he and Garner were in agreement on the decision.
“I talked to Jen, and she was like, ‘We don’t wanna do that. You just get baggage.’”
Affleck made it clear he would love to work with his ex on another project and gushed over their friendship.
“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.”
The former couple met on the set of 2001’s “Pearl Harbor” and reconnected three years later.
They tied the knot in June 2005 and soon welcomed their kids: Violet, 20, Seraphina, 17, and Samuel, 14.
Affleck and Garner, both 54, split in 2015. However, they didn’t finalize their divorce until 2018.
The exes have remained close since their split, and they’re often spotted hanging out with their kids.
In June, the “Juno” actress shared an emotional Father’s Day tribute to Affleck.
“I see the way my kids dote on their dad and I’m happy for them,” she captioned never-before-seen snaps of the actor with their children. “To love and be loved by a great dad is a gift.”
