jennifer garner reveals how ben affleck divorce, motherhood impacted her career
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jennifer garner is opening up about motherhood and her split from ben affleck.
in a candid interview with instyle, the 54-year-old actress reflected on the years she spent putting work on the back burner while raising the three children she shares with affleck. the demands of pregnancy, childbirth and parenting naturally pulled her away from hollywood, but the “upheaval” that followed her 2015 separation from affleck made that break even longer.
“first of all, when you’re in a performance kind of role, you give up a year/year-and-a-half of performance while you are pregnant, having a baby, recovering,” garner told instyle.
although she continued taking on select projects during those years — including 2007’s the kingdom and juno — acting was never her top priority. in fact, her former agent reportedly had to push her into accepting the oscar-winning dallas buyers club in 2013 rather than stepping away from the business entirely, according to usa today.
family always came first
“when my kids were little, i worked so little, and then we had such an upheaval in our family, that i really hardly worked for a long time.”
that “upheaval” was the end of her decade-long marriage to affleck. the pair separated in 2015 and finalized their divorce in 2018, according to entertainment weekly. despite the split, they have remained committed co-parents to their three children: violet, 20, seraphina, 17, and samuel, 14.
garner has largely kept her children out of the spotlight while balancing parenting with a growing list of responsibilities, including her work with save the children and her role as co-founder of baby food company once upon a farm. she told instyle that acting eventually became something she fit into her schedule rather than the other way around.
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“i feel lucky because i really come at (acting) from a place of joy,” she said. “i’m not tortured. it’s not filling a hole. i just really love to do it.”
now that her children are older and more independent, garner is embracing a return to acting. she stars in peacock’s upcoming drama series the five star weekend, a project she describes as a rare opportunity to focus on herself for a change.
“it’s a gift … to have this year-and-a-half where i just indulged (in acting), because this job is very selfish,” she told instyle. “it’s all about your schedule. it’s not about what the kids have going on at school. it’s not about pickups and drop-offs and making it home for dinner.”
no longer feels guilty about pursuing work
“when i work, i don’t apologize to my kids for it,” she said. “i do thank them for being so sweet about it. but that’s part of life. working hard is part of life, and messing up is part of life. tripping and falling — there’s room for all of it.”
the actress also shared some parenting wisdom during the interview, explaining that raising children is ultimately an exercise in accepting what you cannot control.
“you have to raise yourself at the same time,” garner said. “and just be so radically kind to yourself about how imperfect it is. there’s no such thing as balance. there’s no such thing as doing it right.”
garner and affleck, now 53, have occasionally been spotted together over the years while co-parenting, according to people. garner is currently dating businessman john miller.
jennifer lopez and ben affleck attend the “kiss of the spider woman” new york screening on oct. 6, 2025 in new york city.
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why j.lo divorced affleck
affleck, meanwhile, went on to marry and later divorce jennifer lopez. lopez has spoken openly about their 2024 split, describing the breakup as a turning point that forced her to focus on self-love after four failed marriages.
in a 2025 interview with howard stern, lopez said she realized the issue was not her worth, but the inability of some partners to provide the emotional connection she needed.
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“i learned that it’s not that i’m not lovable, it’s that they’re not capable,” lopez said. “they need to appreciate the little person inside of them. they need to love them.”
she also described divorcing affleck as “the best thing that ever happened to me.”
for garner, however, the focus remains on family, gratitude and a career she now approaches on her own terms. after years spent giving “everything to mothering,” she told instyle she’s grateful to have another part of her life back.
“i’m still their mom, i’m not going anywhere, i’m still all-in,” she said. “i’m also really grateful to have this part of my life back.”
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