Jennifer Garner in Talks to Star in Ben Affleck’s New Netflix Movie

Ben Affleck has his next directorial effort ready to go at Netflix, and it appears he will have two of his closest real-life confidants starring for him in front of the camera. The film, an abduction thriller titles Animals, is set to star Matt Damon, Affleck’s longtime creative partner and best friend. A new report suggest that the other lead will be played by none other than Affleck’s ex-wife, Jennifer Garner.

According to a report from The Insneider, Garner is set to star in Animals alongside Damon, with the two playing a married couple whose child is taken. Garner and Affleck were married for 13 years and have three children together. Since their divorce in 2018, the two have continued co-parenting their children together and have maintained a good relationship.

In addition to having a long history with Affleck and Damon, Garner has also established a good working relationship with the folks at Netflix, adding another layer to the decision to cast her in the lead role of Animals. She recently starred in Netflix original films Yes Day, The Adam Project, and Family Switch. In addition to her on-screen roles, Garner also produced Family Switch and Yes Day.

Animals is being directed by Affleck with a script from Connor McIntyre and Billy Ray. Affleck and Damon are producing the film alongside Dani Bernfield of Artists Equity and Brad Weston and Collin Creighton of MakeReady. Michael Joe and Kevin Halloran are serving as executive producers.

Ben Affleck Directing Matt Damon

Affleck and Damon have been friends since before they were famous actors, and they broke into Hollywood at the same time, co-writing and starring in Good Will Hunting. 

Air, the sports drama about the development of Nike’s Air Jordan shoe, was Affleck’s first directorial effort to feature Damon in a starring role. During a Directors on Directors conversation regarding the 2023 film, Affleck opened up about directing his best pal.

“The one thing that we hadn’t done — during the course of our friendship, we had written together, we had acted together, that’s very comfortable and easy,” Affleck admitted. “What I realized is that he hasn’t even really been in the movies I directed. So here I’ve mad these five movies and he hasn’t seen that part of me, exactly, or been on the set like that. I never thought about it until we started shooting and I actually could see he was like, ‘Alright, what’s it gonna be?’”