Jennifer Garner On Navigating Family Turmoil And Career Choices Post-Divorce

Jennifer Garner Opens Up About Life After Ben Affleck

In a recent heart-to-heart with InStyle, Jennifer Garner peeled back the layers on her life post-divorce from Hollywood A-lister Ben Affleck. As any Angeleno would know, navigating family and career in the City of Angels can be as unpredictable as an LA traffic jam. Garner, a SoCal native, has embraced these challenges head-on, finding ways to balance her acting gigs with her most cherished role – being a mom.

She shared that her career took a backseat after she and Affleck welcomed their three children, Violet, Seraphina, and Samuel. "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 explained, highlighting the commitment it takes to juggle Hollywood and home life.

The Impact of Motherhood on Career Choices

Garner's journey through motherhood, divorce, and career adjustments has been anything but a walk down a Malibu beach. After a brief stint back in the limelight with the acclaimed "Dallas Buyers Club," she took another hiatus following her separation from Affleck in 2015. The couple, who tied the knot in 2005, officially went their separate ways in 2018.

"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," shared Garner in the interview.

The actress, who now dates businessman John C. Miller, is not just about the Hollywood glitz. Garner also runs an organic baby food company, Once Upon a Farm, and remains selective about her acting roles to stay close to home in LA.

Embracing the Challenges of a 'Selfish' Career

Acting might seem glamorous, but Garner describes it as a career that demands selfishness. If filming takes her away from LA, she usually passes on the opportunity. "This job is very selfish. 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," she candidly noted. Yet, she ensures her kids know that her work and their support are vital parts of life.

Garner also gets real about relating to her latest role in the TV adaptation of "The Five-Star Weekend," where she plays Hollis Shaw, a widowed food blogger and mom. "I relate to that feeling of like, Okay, I gave everything to mothering. I’m still their mom, I’m not going anywhere, I’m still all-in. I’m also really grateful to have this part of my life back," she reflected.

Reflections on Divorce and Parenting

Reflecting on her divorce, Garner has been honest about the emotional rollercoaster it brought her family. Speaking to Marie Claire UK, she said the media frenzy wasn't the toughest part – it was the dissolution of their partnership and the family dynamics that truly tested her strength.

Despite these challenges, Garner has adjusted to life in "two separate households," as she put it in a Bustle interview. "You don't have the benefit of both sides of the yin and yang being in the same house. And so you have to have a bit of both in the way that you parent," she explained, highlighting the bittersweet nature of co-parenting post-divorce.