Jennifer Garner has opened up about the challenges of balancing her career with raising her three children, admitting that it was particularly difficult to navigate in the years following her divorce from Ben Affleck. In an exclusive interview with InStyle, the actress shared how she's found joy in work again amid her starring role in Peacock's upcoming adaptation of The Five Star Weekend.
"You have to raise yourself at the same time," she shared on parenting. "And just be so radically kind to yourself about how imperfect it is. And that it is just going to be imperfect. 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."
The actress, who shares three children – Violet, Finn, and Samuel – with her ex-husband, Ben, admitted that she doesn’t apologize to her kids for working "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," she explained.
© FilmMagicThe former couple were married from 2005 to 2015, and Jennifer took a step back from acting following their divorce to focus on raising their children. "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," she shared.
© Getty Images"[It’s a gift] to have this year and a half where I just indulged [in acting], because 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 added of her comeback.
© WireImage"I feel lucky because I really come at [acting] from a place of joy. I'm not tortured. It's not filling a hole. I just really love to do it. And I love to be around people who love to do it."
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.
