Jennifer Garner says her acting career slowed down for years because family life needed more from her than Hollywood did.
In a new InStyle cover story, Garner reflected on the long stretch when she took fewer roles while raising her three children with Ben Affleck. The actress said motherhood had already changed the rhythm of her career, and the family’s later “upheaval” made work even harder to prioritize.
Entertainment Weekly reported that Garner told InStyle, “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.”
Garner Said Acting Took a Back Seat to Her Children
Garner explained that pregnancy, childbirth, recovery, and early parenting naturally interrupted her work as a performer. She did not stop acting entirely during those years, but the pace changed as her children became the priority.
Garner and Affleck share three children: Violet, Fin, and Samuel. The former couple separated in 2015 and finalized their divorce in 2018.
InStyle noted that Garner filmed The Kingdom and Juno during the early motherhood years, but acting was no longer the center of her life. She described work during that period as a conscious choice rather than a default.
The Split Changed What She Could Take On
Garner’s latest comments do not dwell on the public drama around the breakup. Instead, she described the practical effect of a major family change: she had less room to disappear into work.
People reported that Garner took a hiatus from acting to focus on motherhood and navigate the divorce. The outlet also noted that she now chooses projects more carefully, especially when location and family schedule are involved.
That keeps the story closer to what Garner actually said. The point was not that she stopped loving acting. It was that raising children through a difficult family transition left less space for the kind of production schedule that acting often demands.
She Had Already Been Turning Down Roles
Even before the divorce, Garner had been saying no to work while her children were young.
She previously recalled that her longtime agent, Patrick Whitesell, pushed her to take Dallas Buyers Club after Samuel was born in 2012. The conversation, she said, was either going to be about doing the film or talking about retirement.
Garner accepted the role because she knew she was not ready to be done acting. Still, the story shows how close she had come to being seen as someone who had stepped away, even though she was trying to keep that part of herself alive.
She Is Acting More Now That Her Kids Are Older
Garner told InStyle she now comes at acting from a place of joy. She said she feels lucky to have had a year and a half where she could “indulge” in the work again.
She also acknowledged that acting can be selfish because a production schedule does not revolve around school events, pickups, drop-offs, or making it home for dinner.
That does not mean she has returned to a work-at-any-cost model. Garner said she looks for projects that are primarily based in Los Angeles because she does not want to uproot her family for months at a time.
The Five Star Weekend Fits Her Current Chapter
Garner’s next major role is Peacock’s The Five Star Weekend, an adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand’s 2023 novel. She stars as Hollis Shaw, a popular food personality whose life changes after a devastating loss.
The role connects naturally to Garner’s public image. She has built a warm online following through her “Pretend Cooking Show,” and she is also a co-founder of Once Upon a Farm, a food company focused on children and families.
NBCUniversal says The Five Star Weekend premieres on Peacock on July 9, with all eight episodes released at once.
Garner Does Not Apologize to Her Kids for Working
Garner told InStyle that she does not apologize to her children when she works. She thanks them for being sweet about it, but she also wants them to understand that work, mistakes, and imperfect days are part of life.
That makes the “upheaval” comment more than a line about divorce. It is Garner describing years of motherhood, public scrutiny, and career uncertainty, then explaining how she found room for acting again without pretending the balance was easy.