Jennifer Garner apologized to director for her acting the day after Ben Affleck split

Jennifer Garner reportedly apologized for her acting performance just one day after she and ex-husband Ben Affleck agreed to divorce.

In a new memoir by Barry Sonnenfeld, titled Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time, the Hollywood filmmaker revealed that the 52-year-old actor was “a little off” on the last day of filming the 2016 movie Nine Lives.

According to an excerpt obtained by the Daily Mail, Sonnenfeld recalled that Garner had been frequently flying to Los Angeles to help Affleck amid the divorce. “Jennifer Garner is a beautiful person inside and out. Any time she could, she’d fly back to Los Angeles where she was dealing with her husband, Ben, who was having issues,” he wrote, per the outlet.

“On her last day of filming, Jennifer was a little off. We were in a grand ballroom with hundreds of extras. I took her to the side of the room and asked if everything was okay,” Sonnenfeld continued. “She apologized for not being at her best. Ben and Jennifer had the night before decided to get a divorce.”

The Men in Black director admitted that he “burst into tears” after Garner told him about their split. She reportedly comforted Sonnenfeld, telling him: “It’s going to be okay. It’s for the best.”

“I don’t know who was more confused,” Sonnenfeld wrote. “The 300 extras who wondered what that nice Ms. Garner had said to Mr. Barry to make him so upset, or Jennifer herself who was forced into the role of the calm person after, somehow, I had become the injured party in this discussion.”

In Nine Lives, Garner plays Lara Brand, the wife of a billionaire businessman who gets trapped inside the body of his daughter’s cat. The comedy was released in 2016, two years before her divorce from Affleck was finalized.

The former couple, who initially tied the knot in 2005, are parents to three children: Violet, 18, Fin, 15, and Samuel, 12. Garner has been in a relationship with businessman John Miller since 2018.

Despite their split, the 13 Going on 30 star has remained supportive of her ex-husband’s rekindled romance – and subsequent divorce – from Jennifer Lopez.

The Gone Girl actor reunited with Lopez in early 2021, nearly 20 years after they were first engaged in 2002. The pair announced their second engagement in April 2022 and tied the knot three months later during an intimate Las Vegas ceremony. Affleck and Lopez hosted a second wedding ceremony at the Air star’s home in Georgia one month later.

Just weeks before filing for divorce, Lopez was seen at Affleck’s temporary Los Angeles residence, where he hosted a graduation party for his son Samuel. Garner also held a graduation party for their daughter Violet last June, where both Affleck and Lopez were in attendance.

The “On the Floor” singer ultimately filed for divorce from Affleck in August 2024, exactly two years after their Georgia wedding ceremony. Lopez reportedly listed April 26 as the couple’s official date of separation, according to TMZ.