Ben Affleck reveals why he cast ex-wife Jennifer Garner as his love interest in new film only to recast her

Ben Affleck is revealing why Kerry Washington took on a role his ex-wife Jennifer Garner was set to play.

Affleck, 54, plays Mark in the crime/thriller movie out October 9 and is directing himself for the fifth time.

Affleck shares kids Violet, 20, Fin, 17, and Samuel, 14, and originally thought Garner would be a great pick to portray his character’s wife for practical reasons.

‘I thought, God, Jen Garner would be amazing for this role,’ he told Entertainment Weekly.

‘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.’

With Garner’s last movie role being a cameo as Elektra in 2024’s Deadpool vs. Wolverine, and leading 2023’s Family Switch, Affleck also thought Animals could be an attractive career opportunity. 

‘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,’ Affleck continued.

However, things started to unravel about two weeks before production was due to begin when Affleck learned that Spike Lee and Denzel Washington were doing 2025’s Highest 2 Lowest about a music mogul whose son is taken by a kidnapper played by A$AP Rocky.

In Affleck’s motion picture a mayoral candidate and his wife resort to extreme measures while desperate to pay their son's ransom, ‘revealing dark secrets they never intended to bring to light,’ according to IMDb.

Armageddon star Affleck admits he didn’t want people to think he was doing a ‘competing version,’ joking, “I’ve already been in one of the two asteroid movies.”

Affleck considered delaying the release date but ultimately decided not to go ahead with production.

A couple of months later he had a change of heart but his producing and acting partner Matt Damon was no longer available to play the lead role because he was working on Odyssey.

‘I was like, God, this is really sticking with me, and I actually wanna do this,’ Affleck said.

Ultimately, Affleck decided to play Mark himself but then realized he and his ex-wife would be acting out a rocky marriage onscreen, which might not look good considering their relationship history. 

‘I talked to Jen, and she was like, “We don’t wanna do that. You just get baggage,”’ he revealed.

‘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?’

Affleck and Garner first met in 2004 while promoting Pearl Harbor, before rekindling their connection on the set of Daredevil, where their off-screen chemistry quickly became as widely discussed as the film itself.

They married in 2005 in a low-key Caribbean ceremony and went on to become one of Hollywood’s most photographed couples, regularly spotted at school runs, sporting events and red-carpet outings with their children.

Despite announcing their separation in 2015 and finalising their divorce in 2018, the pair have remained closely aligned as co-parents, often reuniting for family occasions and milestones.

Affleck even rang in his 54th birthday by spending time with Garner and their children in Santa Monica in August.