Jennifer Garner apologized for her poor performance the day after she and ex-husband Ben Affleck agreed to divorce, her former manager has revealed.
Hollywood filmmaker Barry Sonnenfeld, whose credits include Men in Black and The Addams Family, revealed how Garner was “a little out of character” on the final day of filming the 2016 fantasy comedy Nine Lives.
In his new memoir, Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time, Sonnenfeld recounts how Garner frequently traveled to Los Angeles during filming to help Affleck, who was “having problems.”
But he was still stunned by the revelation and remembers how he “broke down crying” when the actress told him she and Affleck were breaking up.
Despite her own emotional pain, Garner, 52, ended up comforting Sonnenfeld, 71, telling her, “Everything is going to be okay.” It’s the best.’
Jennifer Garner arrived on the set of her movie Nine Lives the day after she and then-husband Ben Affleck broke up and apologized for being sidelined, her director revealed.
“I don’t know who was more confused,” Sonnenfeld writes. “The 300 extras who wondered what that nice Mrs. Garner had said to Mr. Barry to make him so angry, or Jennifer herself, who was forced to take on the role of the calm person after I somehow became on the injured party in this discussion.” .’
Sonnenfeld reveals in the book, a copy of which was obtained by DailyMail.com, that Garner’s grief occurred on the set of the film in which she co-starred with Kevin Spacey and Christopher Walken.
“Jennifer Garner is a beautiful person inside and out,” he writes. “Every time she could, she flew back to Los Angeles, where she was dealing with her husband, Ben, who was having problems.
‘On her last day of filming, Jennifer was a little out of place. We were in a big ballroom with hundreds of extras. I took her to the side of the room and asked her if everything was okay. Behind her, in the distance, were hundreds of extras.
‘He apologized for not being at his best. Ben and Jennifer had decided the night before to get divorced. I started to cry. “It’s okay, Barry. Everything will be okay,” Jennifer promised. “How could it be?” I cried.
‘”Shhhhh. It’s okay (Garner responded). Everything will be okay. It’s for the best.”, “I don’t think so,” I howled.’
In July, DailyMail.com reported that Garner made a conscious decision to step away from the “circus” surrounding Affleck’s marriage to Jennifer Lopez, which recently ended.
Garner and her ex-husband Affleck, 51, were married for 10 years before divorcing in 2018. They are parents to Violet, 18, Fin, 15, and Samuel, 12.
Nine Lives, in which she played Nina Brand, a businessman’s wife who has her mind trapped inside her daughter’s cat, was released two years before their separation was finalized.
Barry Sonnenfeld, who directed Garner in the film Nine Lives, revealed how he apologized after his performance fell short on the final day of filming due to the breakdown of his marriage.
Garner was married to Affleck for ten years and the two share three children.
Sonnenfeld also reveals in the book that he had problems with Garner’s co-star, the now-disgraced Spacey: “Kevin was not fun to work with,” he writes. “He was mean, useless, critical of other actors and had the kind of personality that he tried to keep off stage as much as possible.”
Sonnenfeld also reveals in the book that he clashed with comedy star Tim Allen on the set of the failed 2002 comedy Big Trouble. “Tim was a handful on set,” Sonnenfeld writes. “He was loud and his jokes were repetitive and sometimes cruel.”
Sonnenfeld made the revelation in his new memoir, Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time, which was obtained by DailyMail.com.
Remember the time Allen strangely said on the set of his co-star Rene Russo, one of Hollywood’s most successful leading ladies in the 1990s, “I’m not attracted to her.”
“We were filming the scene where René and Tim meet for the first time,” writes Sonnenfeld. “It’s important that we sense instant chemistry between the two.”
The director remembers telling Allen, “Hey Tim, you must instantly fall in love with René.” ‘Why should I be?’ Tim asked. ‘Well, she’s beautiful and in the previous scene where you first saw her she was funny and witty…’
“I’m not attracted to her,” he said of one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever worked with opposite that beautiful woman.
‘I’m going to act attractive, Tim. I promise,” Rene whispered in a sultry Marilyn Monroe voice. (Allen responded), “It’s hard to act attracted to someone if they’re not attractive.”
Sonnenfeld later remembers telling Allen, “You’re an actor, Tim.” Just like you are attracted to one of the most beautiful women in the world. OK?’ “I can try,” Tim said kindly.
Garner, photographed on the red carpet at the film’s premiere in 2016, ended up comforting Sonnenfeld about their divorce despite her own emotional distress.
In the film, Garner played Nina Brand, the wife of a businessman whose mind becomes trapped inside her daughter’s cat. The film was released two years before Garner and Affleck finalized their divorce.
“I apologized to René, who seemed more amused than hurt by this evil human, and we wrapped filming.”
It’s not the first time Allen, the star of The Santa Clause franchise and the TV series Last Man Standing, has been criticized in a memoir.
In her story, Love, Pamela, Pamela Anderson claimed that Tim Allen showed her his genitals more than 30 years ago on the set of Home Improvement in 1991, when she was 23 and he was 37.
Allen denied the allegations, telling Variety, “I would never do such a thing,” adding that the incident “never happened.”
Sonnenfeld also recounts his confrontation with Donald Trump on the set of a Macy’s Christmas commercial he directed in 2009 that also starred Martha Stewart, Queen Latifah, Usher, Mariah Carey and Jessica Simpson.
Sonnenfeld revealed that Garner frequently returned to Los Angeles during filming because Affleck was “having problems.”
Sonnenfeld calls Tim Allen a “bad human” for telling René Russo that he wasn’t attracted to her on the set of their 2002 film Big Trouble.
According to Sonnenfeld, Trump took issue with the way he was filmed and demanded to be filmed from his “good side.”
Sonnenfeld remembers Trump saying, ‘Find a camera angle that shows my good side, or we’ll end up here, because believe me, you’re not shooting me from my bad side and if you can’t do that, you’re done.’
After the director thanked him for his time, he says Trump “stormed away,” before returning and saying, “You can film the close-up of my bad side.” Sonnenfeld responded: “No need, Donald.” We have moved on. But thanks for coming.
Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time: True Stories from a Hollywood Career by Barry Sonnenfeld is published by Hachette Books.
