Ben Affleck’s new thriller “Animals” went through several different permutations over its development, including one that would have potentially seen him star alongside his ex-wife Jennifer Garner. Garner had been cast in the Affleck-directed project early on, but Affleck only came aboard as the lead actor late in the process. After that point, the pair decided against starring together in the film and Garner exited.
“I thought, ‘God, Jen Garner would be amazing for this role,’” Affleck explained to 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 … 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 said the film had been originally slated to star Garner and Matt Damon, his friend and frequent collaborator, as a married couple subject to a kidnapping plot. However, Affleck put the project on ice after learning Spike Lee was developing his own kidnap thriller “Highest 2 Lowest.” After re-engaging with the script, he returned to direct. But Damon had to exit due to scheduling conflicts with “The Odyssey,” leaving Affleck to step in to star. After that, there was a brief consideration of if him and Garner would play a married couple on-screen.
“I talked to Jen, and she was like, ‘We don’t want to do that. You just get baggage,’” he said. “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 want to work with her in the future, but what you don’t want to do is take the audience’s baggage and have it work against you, you know?”
Garner’s role ended up going to Kerry Washington. “Animals” also stars Gillian Anderson, Steven Yeun, Luis Gerardo Méndez and Adriana Paz. The film will play theatrically in select cities and debut on Netflix on Oct. 9.
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