Jennifer Garner, 54, says she’s grateful her kids understood the demands of her acting career.
In an interview with InStyle published on Wednesday, the “13 Going on 30” actor spoke about dedicating more time to her career now after spending years focused on being a mom.
“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.
Garner shares three children with her ex-husband Ben Affleck. They split in 2015 after 10 years of marriage, and divorced three years later. They continue to co-parent their kids.
Garner said she cherished the opportunity to devote herself to acting again in the last year and a half, even though the 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,” Garner said.
That said, Garner only takes acting jobs that are primarily filmed in Los Angeles, so she wouldn’t have to uproot her family.
Speaking about her latest role in Peacock’s coming series “The Five-Star Weekend,” Garner said she connected with her character, a widowed food blogger navigating a new chapter in life.
“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,” Garner said.
She added that she’s embraced this stage of life, where she can devote time to both her children and herself.
“When I work, I don’t apologize to my kids for it. I do thank them for being so sweet about it. 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,” Garner said.
Garner isn’t the only Hollywood star who has spoken about balancing work and motherhood.
In August, Ayesha Curry said she doesn’t want her whole identity to be tied to being a mother.
“Like, for me, being married and with my husband, if you lose all of those things that were interesting about you, even for yourself, even the things that made me feel confident and cool, then like, what are you doing?” Curry said.
In October, Keira Knightley said her mother gave her no-nonsense advice about being a working parent.
“There is a reality to it. You do just make it work,” Knightley said. “It does look different for absolutely everybody, and it’s always a mess.”
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