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Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner attend the 2014 Vanity Fair Oscar Party© Getty Images

Jennifer Garner reveals the surprising way her three kids side with dad Ben Affleck over her

The Last Thing He Told Me star and ex Ben are parents to Violet, Seraphina, and Samuel

Ahad Sanwari
Ahad Sanwari - New York
Senior WriterNew York
April 17, 2023
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Jennifer Garner sat down with InStyle ahead of the release of The Last Thing He Told Me to discuss the book that inspired the Apple TV+ series and how she first related to it.

The actress revealed that it was her reading of the Laura Dave book with 14-year-old daughter Seraphina that inspired her to take on the project, although there's a good chance she won't be watching it anytime soon.

VIDEO: Jennifer Garner opens up about parenting teenager daughters

In fact, she added that her three kids (she also is mom to 11-year-old Samuel and 17-year-old Violet) are more interested in checking out their famous father (and Jennifer's ex) Ben Affleck's projects instead, but there's a reason for it.

"My kids don't love to watch me in things," the 13 Going On 30 star explained. "They do to be supportive, but I think it's a little weird to watch your mom kiss someone or cry.

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"It's different. They don't mind watching their dad. They don't want to see me sad and they don't want to see me in a romance. They don't love seeing me play someone else's mom, honestly. I don't know if they'll watch this."

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Jennifer and Seraphina were still able to bond over the book that started it all, however. "I read it aloud with my middle child at bedtime and we could not stop," she said, adding that the quick pace of the thriller made it an instant bonding moment for them.

"It pushed bedtime later and later because the book has this super-propulsive quality, really driven by two things: life-and-death stakes that keep shifting when you least expect it, everything turns on a dime again and again and again.

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"And then, the relationship between this woman who never expected to be a mother and was not particularly gifted at it and this young woman who never expected to have a mother and wasn't really good at that. All of that together just made for a really explosive read."

Jennifer Garner with her children Violet, Seraphina, and Samuel© Getty Images
Jennifer and Ben welcomed three kids during their 13 years of marriage

While it was easy for the mother-daughter pair to gush over the bestselling novel – which was adapted into a series thanks to Reese Witherspoon's production company Hello Sunshine – it is a pity that same feeling may not be translating to the actual show anytime soon.

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