It’s on the set of her new TV show she's shooting on the Universal Studios lot that Jennifer Garner talks openly about her new role and ... cooking.
In Five-Star Weekend, a new series on Peacock based on Elin Hildebrand's novel, Jennifer portrays Hollis Shaw, a beloved food influencer grappling with loss who hosts four friends from different chapters of her life for a weekend in Nantucket, where hidden truths emerge and relationships evolve amid coastal luxury.
Off-camera, the 53-year-old shares three children with her ex-husband, Ben Affleck: Violet, 19 (who's studying at Yale University), Finn, 16, and Samuel, 13. But Jennifer tells HELLO! that when she's whipping up meals at home, she tries not to become "too focused on it being like Martha Stewart.
"Kids don't care. Families don't care. No one cares. Just make it. Just do it with love. And do your best. And pretty much, people will eat it."
Why did this project interest you so much?
Jennifer: At first, I was thinking I love working on adaptations of books because I love the rich source material, and I love just diving into the book and reading it over and over again and finding little things that make me happy.
And in this instance, I started it kind of like, "What is this going to be?" I really love Elin's books, but I hadn't read this one.
I was just coming off a series, or I was going into one. I don't remember when it was, but I started it thinking, "Well, I love it. Can I possibly love it as much as the series I'm already doing?" And then I did. And the more I read, the more it surprised me, and the more it resonated with me, and all of the ways that Hollis and I are alike were kind of shocking to me.
All of the ways we are different were really fun for me. And I have found that cooking in front of a camera, this is the first time I've ever used something that I love, which is cooking and baking, on camera as a character. And I found it to be, like Hollis does, really calming, really settling.
Acting for me is always like, "Do I know what I'm doing?" And in that [setting] I was like, "Oh no, I know how to do this. I am perfectly at home here. I know this character." It's really been a blast.
Since you're already so good in the kitchen, did you learn anything?
Jennifer: Of course! There are always things to learn. I'm constantly asking Melissa [McSorley, food stylist]. I try to make everything that Hollis is making. This weekend, I made Hollis's chicken pot pie, which happened to be from Southern Living and is very much like the chicken pot pie my mom made for us growing up because it uses buttermilk biscuits as the crust of the pie.
So, there are some leftovers home in my fridge, if you guys can come over. I also made a galette [French pastry] yesterday. I've made a few now! And that's part of the fun of it.
Any particular skill you worked on?
Jennifer: I did work with somebody on my knife skills, because if you've ever seen me cook, my cooking show on Instagram is very much pretend. I don't really know I'm a mom cook, I'm not a cook cook. And so I wanted Hollis to be a little more refined in her skills than I am.
Last night I was doing this chicken on a grill that I've been doing, that I love. And I went to chop the onion, and I thought, I forgot how the lady taught me to do it. And I'm glad I'm better than I was. I'm still hacking away.
How many episodes will the series be?
Jennifer: Eight. 72 hours with some flashbacks.
But it's a series, not a limited series?
Jennifer: I think it's...I mean, let's see how people like it. I hope it's a series because you know why? I've never had a better time. It's all women. And the men we have are amazing.
But I took little Harlow who plays my daughter to lunch on Saturday and we were just talking about what she's getting to see and witness and just the way this group of women loves and supports and lifts each other and the way that... This is so important at the beginning of your career that you see that this is how it's done and she's just like, I love it.
But it's incredible. It's such a gift. It really is. I've never, ever gotten to work with this. And even today, I finished the scene, I came out of the scene early and I ran over to the focus puller to watch everyone else in the scene because they're so good and they're so funny and different and great and I love them all. So it's just the coolest.
How much of the food were you allowed to eat? Because it looks so delicious.
Jennifer: The other night, we had a super emotional scene. It was Darcy, Carden, and me. It was so emotional. We were in a hospital corridor, bottom of the barrel sadness. And Melissa, being the angel she is, had been, she had leftover dough and just baked off a focaccia and walked through and we're like, "We have to stay sad, but can we have more?"
It was so unbelievably delicious. It really was. And what a perfect rise.
When did you first get introduced to cooking?
Jennifer: Oh, my mom made all our meals. She made everything. Even if I was like, "Please, can we have a little Debbie snack cake?" No, we could not. She made it. She made everything.
I'm the daughter of a farmer. And [when] my mom [was growing up], they had a sustenance farm. It was like a little spit farm in Oklahoma. They lived on it. They lived off what the farm could make, and what they could can. And grow in a year. They didn't go hungry. But it was just that. And then they would buy ice, sugar and vanilla.
They had a dairy cow and in the summers, my grandmother Violet would make a big thing of ice cream. They would sit outside on a blanket and they would crank the ice cream and finish a gallon and go make another one and do it again. So I grew up with this super romantic notion.
My grandmother was a ball buster. Like a fox got into the chicken coop in the middle of the night one night. And she went out and killed it. And then she just was like, well, let's just eat all these chickens. She fried chicken until the sun came up. She just kept frying. And they had a feast in the middle of the night. She's like, it's not going to go to waste. And that's part of family lore.
So to me, my mom is just the coolest and such a good cook. And so I just want to be like her. I mean, my little sister is a better cook than I am. But whatever. She's not here. But we don't have to fess up to that.
Are there any other book adaptations you have your eye on?
Jennifer: Always. Yesterday was a book adaptation. Family Switch kind of started with the book The Last Thing You Told Me, and we have the second season of that coming out. But right now, I'm like all Hollis all the time. I love her so much. There is no other for me.
Is this your first time back on Universal Studios, since Alias?
Jennifer: No, since Dude, Where's My Car? [in 2000]. I did that shoot here. We shot in the water tank. They sunk me to the bottom and I did crazy things there. I love being on this lot. I'm on my bike.
Did they tell you I ride around on my little bike with my bell? I came here on my bike. And I'm like ding, ding, ding to all the people. I did that during Alias. I just think it makes you happy. I like the jolt of adrenaline. I like the energy boost. And I like saying hi to people. I love it. It truly makes me happy, it really does. I also didn't get to ride growing up because I grew up in West Virginia and the roads were so narrow and it was so hilly where I live.It just wasn't safe.
Is there going to be a cookbook?
Jennifer: It's so funny that you mention that. I am not a cookbook person, but if Melissa wants to do one?
How would you describe your own cooking?
Jennifer: I really do believe it is just about doing it and getting it done. And not worrying that my folds aren't perfect. I just try to. My mom's cooking wasn't pretty. I mean, it was prettier than mine. But it wasn't pretty.
I think we can get too focused on it being like Martha Stewart. Kids don't care. Families don't care. No one cares. Just make it. Just do it with love. And do your best. And pretty much, people will eat it.
Cooking and food aside, can you talk a little bit more about how you relate to this character and this role in particular?
Jennifer: I think this is a role about friendship. It's a role about growing at this stage in your life. It's women who are in the middle of this – what is their next chapter going to be? What's their next story going to be? Their story is not done.
But their story, in society a few years ago, could have very much been the end. That could have been all that was written about them. And now they're like, hang on a second. We still have a lot to do and a lot to give. And we have each other. And what's it going to look like?
It's about how relationships can be messy. But kind of like my galette, they're still worth working on. And they're still going to be delicious in the end. It's about forgiveness and growth. And I just can't think of anything I've enjoyed more than being with this group and doing this role this summer on my bike at Universal.
You're producing as well. How does that invigorate the creative spirit? Is there something different for you as a producer?
Jennifer: I never have acting down. But I like being part of the conversation. But I'm not producing this. This is Sue. This is Becca. This is not my baby that I am putting together. But I do like that they invite me into the conversation. In this case, something like Yesterday or Family Switch, those I was more integral. This, I'm just grateful to be with these wise, brilliant women.
Interview: Dimitri Porrini.