Jennifer Garner has offered one of her most candid reflections yet on the collapse of her marriage to Ben Affleck, revealing that the turmoil surrounding their family life left her "consumed" and largely absent from Hollywood during one of the most difficult periods of her life.
In a new interview with InStyle, the actress discussed the years surrounding her separation from Affleck, describing how the breakdown of their marriage reshaped both her professional ambitions and her responsibilities as a parent. The comments provide a rare glimpse into a chapter of Garner's life that has remained largely shielded from public scrutiny despite years of intense media attention.
The remarks come as Garner prepares for the release of The Five-Star Weekend, a television adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand's bestselling novel. While discussing the challenges of balancing career and family, the actress reflected on a period when personal circumstances took priority over professional opportunities.
"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 told InStyle. She described herself as being "consumed" by the demands of navigating that transition while raising three children.
Garner and Affleck were married for a decade before announcing their separation in 2015, just one day after their tenth wedding anniversary. The pair later finalized their divorce in 2018 and have since focused on co-parenting their children-Violet, Finn and Samuel.
At the time of their separation, the former couple issued a joint statement emphasizing their commitment to family, saying they would move forward with "love and friendship" and remain dedicated to co-parenting. Both largely avoided discussing the details of their breakup publicly, helping preserve an unusually cooperative post-divorce relationship in Hollywood.
Garner's latest comments stop short of assigning blame, but they underscore the emotional and practical burden she faced during those years. While Affleck's struggles with addiction and multiple rehabilitation stays generated headlines, Garner quietly stepped away from much of the industry's spotlight.
The actress also used the interview to share broader lessons she learned from the experience.
"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. And when the big moments happen, you are okay, and that's on you to know and understand so your child feels your okayness."
Her perspective stands in contrast to Affleck's own public reflections on the divorce, which have often centered on regret. In a 2020 interview on Good Morning America, Affleck described the end of the marriage as "so painful and so disappointing. In myself."
He added, "I'm very lucky she is the mother of my children... Both of us really believe that it's important for kids to see their parents respect one another and get along, whether they're together or not."
That same year, Affleck told The New York Times that the divorce was "the biggest regret of my life," while discussing feelings of "shame" and "self-loathing" that followed the breakup.
Despite those public admissions, Garner has largely resisted revisiting the past. Instead, she has focused on raising their children and building a stable family dynamic after the marriage ended. Her actions frequently drew attention, including in 2018 when she was photographed driving Affleck to a rehabilitation facility during one of his most public struggles.
More recently, Garner offered additional insight into modern co-parenting during an appearance on the One Nightstand podcast.
"When your kids grow up in two separate households, I become mum and dad, and he becomes dad and mum," she said.
Without the traditional balance of two parents under one roof, Garner explained, each parent must adapt to responsibilities they may not have expected. "There's a little bit of loss in that, but there's also something gained in that," she added.
As she returns to a higher-profile acting schedule, Garner appears increasingly willing to discuss how those years shaped her outlook. In the InStyle interview, she framed both parenting and career as ongoing works in progress.
"When I work, I don't apologise to my kids for it. I do thank them for being so sweet about it," she said. "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."
