What Jennifer Garner told Ben Affleck about playing his love interest in new film before recasting

Jennifer Garner politely declined ex-husband Ben Affleck’s offer to portray his love interest in his new movie, “Animals.”

“Jen was like, ‘Great, but no, I’m not gonna play your wife in a movie,’” Affleck, 54, shared while appearing as a guest on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Thursday night.

“[It’s] probably for the best. That lesson has been learned,” he joked, as Kimmel, 58, and the audience laughed.

Affleck and Garner — who met on the set of 2001’s “Pearl Harbor” — famously played love interests in the 2003 Marvel film “Daredevil.” He portrayed the titular character, while she played Elektra Natchios.

Affleck explained on the late-night show that Garner and his best friend, Matt Damon, were both set to star in “Animals,” but those plans fell apart when the film’s concept was changed.

“Basically, we found out there was another movie with a similar plot mechanic that was also being made,” he said. “I felt like, ‘Oh, I’ve done the two asteroid movies thing. Let’s forget it. I don’t wanna do that.’”

Affleck said that Damon, 55, dropped out of the project to do “The Odyssey,” which led to Affleck casting himself as the lead and Kerry Washington as his love interest.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly on Monday, Affleck explained that he wanted Garner in his movie because he thought she’d “be amazing” in the role and it would make co-parenting their three kids easier.

“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,’” he said.

However, Affleck said that he and Garner agreed she should be recast because their on-screen reunion would come with a lot of “baggage.”

Still, Affleck insisted he’d love to work with his ex-wife on a future project.

“She’s fabulous, and we’re really good friends, and I’m profoundly grateful to her, and we have a great thing,” he shared.

Affleck and Garner tied the knot in June 2005 and welcomed three children during their marriage: Violet, 20, Seraphina, 17, and Samuel, 14.

They split in 2015, though they didn’t finalize their divorce until 2018. However, they’ve remained close over the years while co-parenting their three children.

Last year, Page Six exclusively reported that the former couple had been “spending more time together than ever” since Affleck’s 2024 divorce from Jennifer Lopez.

“They really do have a close bond,” our insider said of the pair.