Ben Affleck Reveals Why Jennifer Garner Turned Down a Role in His New Movie 'Animals'

Ben Affleck revealed why his ex-wife Jennifer Garner ultimately passed on playing his onscreen wife in Animals.

“I thought, ‘God, Jen Garner would be amazing for this role,’” the Oscar winner told Entertainment Weekly.

Affleck discussed the casting twist while promoting his upcoming Netflix movie, which follows a mayoral candidate whose son is kidnapped as his troubled marriage falls apart.

Affleck admitted there was a practical reason he liked the idea.

Since he and Garner share three children, Violet, Seraphina and Samuel, working together could have meant more time with them.

“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,” he explained, adding, "I thought, well, we can coordinate our schedules around it."

But the plan didn't exactly go smoothly.

The 54-year-old actor's longtime friend and frequent collaborator Matt Damon was originally set to play Mark.

When production was delayed, however, Damon was no longer available because of his work on The Odyssey.

The Argo star ultimately decided to take over the role himself, which created a new complication: He would be playing Garner's husband in a movie about a troubled marriage.

“I talked to Jen, and she was like, ‘We don’t wanna do that. You just get baggage,’” he recalled.

Garner ultimately passed on the role, which went to Kerry Washington.

Affleck, however, made it clear that there are no hard feelings between the former couple.

The pair, who were married for 10 years before splitting in 2015, previously costarred in 2003's Daredevil.

“I would love to work with her, frankly. She’s fabulous, and we’re really good friends, and I’m profoundly grateful to her, and we have a great thing," he said of the 13 Going on 30 star.

He added, “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?”

For now, Washington has stepped into the role of Abigail, with Affleck saying he was thrilled to explore the complicated relationship.

“It's a pretty horrible dynamic between the two of them,” the 49-year-old star said of the characters, adding, “It was exciting to see the journey of their marriage through this traumatic unfolding of events.”