Jennifer Garner apologized for her acting being below par the day after she and ex-husband Ben Affleck agreed to divorce, her former director has revealed.
Hollywood filmmaker Barry Sonnenfeld, whose credits include Men in Black and The Addams Family, revealed how Garner was ‘a little off’ on the last day of filming on the 2016 fantasy comedy Nine Lives.
In his new memoir, Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time, Sonnenfeld recounts how Garner had been frequently jetting to Los Angeles during shooting to help Affleck, who was ‘having issues’.
But he was still stunned by the disclosure and recalls how he ‘burst into tears’ when the actress told him she and Affleck were going to split.
Despite her own emotional pain, Garner, 52, reportedly ended up comforting Sonnenfeld, 71, telling him, ‘It’s going to be OK. It’s for the best’.
Jennifer Garner came to set of her film Nine Lives the day after she and then-husband Ben Affleck called it quits and apologized for being off her game, her director has revealed
‘I don’t know who was more confused,’ Sonnenfeld writes. ‘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.’
Sonnenfeld reveals in the book, a copy of which has been obtained by DailyMail.com, that Garner’s heartache 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. ‘Any time she could, she’d fly back to Los Angeles where she was dealing with her husband, Ben, who was having issues.
‘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 OK. Behind her, in the distance, were hundreds of extras.
‘She apologized for not being at her best. Ben and Jennifer had the night before decided to get a divorce. I burst into tears. “It’s OK, Barry. It’s going to be OK”, Jennifer promised. “How could it be?” I wailed.
‘”Shhhhh. It’s OK [Garner replied]. It’s going to be OK. 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 back from the ‘circus’ surrounding Affleck’s marriage to Jennifer Lopez which recently ended.
Garner and 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, the wife of a businessman who has his mind trapped inside his daughter’s cat, was released two years before their split was finalized.
Barry Sonnenfeld, who directed Garner in the movie Nine Lives, revealed how she was apologetic after her performance was not up to par on the last day of filming due to the breakdown of her marriage
Garner was married to Affleck for ten years and the two share three children together
Sonnenfeld also discloses in the book that he had issues with Garner’s co-star the now-disgraced Spacey: ‘Kevin was not fun to work with,’ he writes. ‘He was mean, unhelpful, critical of other actors, and he had the kind of personality I tried to keep off set as much as possible.’
Sonnenfeld also reveals in the book he clashed with comedy star Tim Allen on the set of 2002 comedy flop Big Trouble. ‘Tim was a handful on set,’ Sonnenfeld writes. ‘He was loud and his jokes were repetitive and sometimes mean.’
Sonnenfeld made the disclosure in his new memoir, Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time, which was obtained by DailyMail.com
He recounts the time Allen bizarrely said on-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 Rene and Tim meet for the first time,’ Sonnenfeld writes. ‘It’s important that we sense instant chemistry between the two.’
The director recalls saying to Allen, ‘Hey Tim, you need to be instantly smitten with Rene.’ ‘Why would I be?’ asked Tim. ‘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 about one of the most beautiful women I’ve worked with in front of that very beautiful woman.
‘I’ll act attractive, Tim. I promise,’ Rene whispered in a sultry Marilyn Monroe voice. [Allen replied], ‘It’s hard to act attracted to someone if they’re not attractive.’
Sonnenfeld then recalls telling Allen, ‘You’re an actor, Tim. Just like you’re attracted to one of the most beautiful women in the world. OK?’ ‘I can try,’ Tim said helpfully.
Garner, pictured on the red carpet for the film’s premiere in 2016, ended up comforting Sonnenfeld about her divorce despite her own emotional distress
In the movie, Garner played Nina Brand, the wife of a businessman whose mind gets trapped inside his daughter’s cat. The film premiered two years before Garner and Affleck finalized their divorce
‘I apologized to Rene, who seemed more amused than hurt by this mean human, and we got through the shoot.’
It’s not the first time Allen, the star of The Santa Clause franchise and TV series Last Man Standing, has come under fire in a memoir.
In her tell-all, Love, Pamela, Pamela Anderson claimed Tim Allen flashed his genitals to her more than 30 years ago on the set of Home Improvement in 1991 when she was 23-years-old and he was 37.
Allen denied the allegations, telling Variety, ‘I would never do such a thing,’ adding the incident ‘never happened’.
Sonnenfeld also recounts clashing with Donald Trump on the set of a Macy’s Christmas commercial he directed in 2009, which also starred Martha Stewart, Queen Latifah, Usher, Mariah Carey and Jessica Simpson.
Sonnenfeld revealed Garner would frequently jet back to Los Angeles during filming as Affleck was ‘having issues’
Sonnenfeld calls Tim Allen a ‘mean human’ for telling Rene Russo he wasn’t attracted to her on the set of their 2002 movie Big Trouble
According to Sonnenfeld, Trump took issue with how he was filmed, demanding he be filmed from his ‘good side’.
Sonnenfeld recalls that Trump said, ‘Find a camera angle that shows my good side, or we’re done here, because believe me, you’re not shooting me from my bad side and if you can’t do that, I’m leaving.’
After the director thanked him for his time, he recounts that Trump ‘stormed out’, before coming back and saying, ‘You can shoot the close up from my bad side.’ Sonnenfeld replied, ‘No need, Donald. We’ve moved on. But thanks for coming.’