Once upon a time, Jennifer Garner had to build a new path for herself.
The Five-Star Weekend actress candidly looked back at the period following her and Ben Affleck’s divorce, admitting she initially wasn’t sure how she’d be able to balance a renewed focus on her acting career with raising their three kids Violet, 20, Seraphina, 17, and Samuel, 13.
“I panicked when I was first out of my marriage and realized I had taken such a step back in my work,” Garner reflected on the Aug. 25 episode of Emma Grede’s Aspire podcast. “Suddenly, I realized: I don’t know how long I’ll be able to work.”
“This isn’t a career that’s like, ‘Hey, you’re 60. You’re 55. You’re 43, come on, let’s pay you more than you’ve ever made,’” she mused. “That’s not traditionally the role.”
But though her career had taken a backseat as she and Affleck expanded their family following their 2005 wedding, when they broke up a decade later, it was not only a new chapter for them as co-parents but also a wake-up call for her to take a hard look at her finances.