Ben Affleck has revealed that his ex-wife Jennifer Garner was originally cast in his upcoming Netflix film 'Animals,' before a series of production shakeups led to Kerry Washington taking over the role instead. The crime thriller, which Affleck co-wrote, directed and stars in, premieres Oct. 9 on Netflix.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Affleck explained that he initially envisioned Garner playing Abigail, wife of lead character Mark Kimball. "I thought, God, Jen Garner would be amazing for this role," he said, adding that casting her carried a practical upside given their co-parenting arrangement. "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." He also praised her potential in the part, saying, "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."
However, Affleck scrapped that version of the project two weeks before filming was set to begin, citing the looming release of A24's Spike Lee-directed 'Highest 2 Lowest,' a similarly themed kidnapping thriller. "It's hard enough to make a good movie. You don't need those kinds of headwinds," he said.
Months later, Affleck's enthusiasm for the project brought it back to life, but by then Matt Damon — originally set to play Mark Kimball — was tied up working with Christopher Nolan on Odyssey. Affleck joked about his friend's choice: "Matt was unfortunately doing another lesser film, obviously, with Odyssey. He chose a smaller director and a smaller film and a smaller role for his career, and I think he's gonna suffer for it. He'll regret this choice. A better actor had to play the part, naturally."
With Affleck stepping into the lead role himself, casting Garner as his onscreen wife became complicated. "I talked to Jen, and she was like, 'We don't wanna do that. You just get baggage,'" he recalled. Affleck said he remains eager to collaborate with Garner down the line. "I would love to work with her, frankly," he said. "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 wanna work with her in the future, but what you don't wanna do is take the audience's baggage and have it work against you, you know?"
Ultimately, Affleck cast Kerry Washington as Abigail after the two grew close during the 2023 Hollywood strikes. "She's very polished, but she's also very warm. I thought, Oh my God, she's amazing for this," he said.
Co-written by Affleck, Connor O. McIntyre and Billy Ray, 'Animals' follows Affleck as Los Angeles mayoral candidate Mark Kimball, whose son — played by Christopher Woodley as Denny — is kidnapped, leaving Kimball and his wife Abigail (Washington) with only a few hours to raise the ransom money.
Photo: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
