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Jennifer Garners car is parked right over there, by the Prius, in the back of the lot.
Its kind of a long drive, she says, so why dont we go together?
We can talk on the way.
Ill drive with Garner, whom Ive known for an hour and a half.
Full look Miu Miu. Tiffany jewelry. Makeup colors: Ethereal Eyes Eyeshadow Palette by Makeup By Mario and Pillow Talk Matte Revolution Lipstick and Lip Cheat Pencil by Charlotte Tilbury.
Or 22 years, depending on how youre counting.
Weve just spent the early afternoon in a woodworking studio in downtown Los Angeles.
Thats what I call it, but Ive been corrected.
Laquan Smith trench coat. Le Crayon Khol in Graphite by Chanel and Lipstick in 402 Vantine Fuchsia by Gucci.
Technically, its wood turning.
Full look Miu Miu.
Shes also really good at it.
Loewe dress.
First, we just did spindles, then we made rolling pins before we graduated to bowls.
Its time for lunch.
The inside of the car tells a different story.
Laquan Smith trench coat.
Le Crayon Khol in Graphite by Chanel and Lipstick in 402 Vantine Fuchsia by Gucci.
I know this car.
Michael Kors dress. Makeup colors: Clean Line Gel Liner in Twilight by Ilia and Glazé Lip Lacquer in “Splash” by Code8.
This is my car (not the BMW part).
This is a car that is early for drop-off and queues up responsibly for 3 p.m. pickup.
I really could have been a mother in any way.
I mean, I was the kid with the doll everywhere I went.
I tell Garner that our daughters actually go to school together.
She found out later that was Garners eldest daughter.
Max Mara headpiece. Makeup colors: Killawatt Highlighter in Trophy Wife by Fenty Beauty and Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Red Square by Nars.
Oh, I love that, she says.
Her kids dont love to watch her movies, she tells me.
They dont mind watching their dad, but they kind of want me to be their mom.
They dont want to see me upset and women cry more in what we do.
And they dont really want to see me in a romantic thing.
Garner talks about her kids with such warmth and wisdom its hard not to ask her for advice.
Maybe a few times.
I have a lot of faith in my kids.
I dont love every behavior all the time, always.
Its gnarly growing up.
After all, she points out, its hard for everyone raising a kid in 2023.
We didnt have the eyes on us that our kids have.
I was such a first-time mom.
[My eldest daughter] didnt have a shot.
She couldnt have a free thought I was all over her.
I was a nightmare for everyone around me.
IfJennifer Garner: Nightmareis tough to get your head around, youre not wrong.
Garners brand is built on niceness as much as it is on being preternaturally fit.
Shes equal parts running shoes and something baking.
Even calling it a brand seems cynical.
Garner became a proper celebrity in 2001 when she was 29 years old.
She got married to arguably the mostUsWeekly-able actor in Hollywood in 2005 when she was 33.
Ive definitely had days where I just cant do it.
I scowl at people before they can walk up to me.
Im not perfect, and I dont think Im rude, but Im not good at being fake.
Im an open book of a person.
Im religious about the shampoos and conditioners theyre total game changers.
Is this where were going?
Her pride is not unwarranted: Were here.
A few minutes later, were sitting at a bright corner table, overlooking downtown.
What can I get you ladies this afternoon?
Two mint teas, tuna ceviche on tostadas, and guacamole with fresh vegetables.
Makeup colors: Clean Line Gel Liner in Twilight by Ilia and Glaze Lip Lacquer in Splash by Code8.
And, she adds, drawing that line is especially hard for her.
Thats tricky for me because it doesnt come naturally.
Its also a fun part about being a woman, I say.
Its the feminine lingua franca.
You go deep right away: How are you?
Nice to meet you.
What is happening with your vagina?
Well, now that the gates have cracked open…
I just learned that our vaginas may collapse, she tells me.
I saw my OB this week and she gave me a pamphlet about vaginal collapse.
Garners eyes get wide, reliving the moment in the doctors office.
She grabs her watch: Im like: When?
Do I need to put it in my calendar?
What is happening?!
Have you ever heard of that?
But thank you, now Im a little freaked.
Is it a thing thats going to happen to all of us?
No, its just a possibility.
Is this the same thing that happens when you pee if you sneeze?
Our mint teas arrive.
Did Joseph hear anything about a possibly imminent collapse?
If he did hes not letting on.
When youre a waiter at the SoHo House in Los Angeles, you know when to listen selectively.
Garner is a pro at being an open book.
And when she asks a question you cant help but think that she truly cares about the answer.
There were two decades where it was really hard to hold a conversation, she says.
Not in a woe-is-me, poor celebrity way.
I was on baby watch every single day.
The day after I had a baby, [the paparazzi] were watching again.
That seems extremely claustrophobic, to say the least.
During those years, Garner cut off all celebrity news.
I learned a while ago that Im way too sensitive to what is written about me, my family.
I cant even have CNN.
I used to love the Huffington Post, but anything that has a celebrity section she shakes her head.
Sometimes, she sees other celebrities and has no idea that they got married and had a baby.
In the intervening years, shes also been able to yank the remote control out of other peoples hands.
It worked and the bill passed.
Im not getting chased into the grocery store to have whatever is in my cart photographed.
Maybe my life is happily boring enough that theres nothing to see here.
I think social media helped calm it down, actually.
You have your own relationship with people.
Garner really has created an unmediated relationship with the world on her own terms.
She created a world that is sweet and inclusive and easy.
If Jennifer Garner can have a fake restaurant for her kids in her backyard, why cant I?
NBC called her Instagram account the last uncorrupted corner of the internet.
Maybe it’s ironic from a woman who didnt want to be on social media, Garner says.
I went into it kicking and screaming.
And Mo, who had been my assistant for years by then, has a film degree from Northwestern.
Shes supersmart and has amazing taste, so I said, Mosy, were doing this together.
But there is also camaraderie and companionship.
Its like a little coven of women, she says.
I ask Garner what her life would have looked like if she wasnt acting.
(Directing and producing dont count.)
Who would she be?
I am completely unprepared for her answer: I would have really liked being a minister, she says.
My mom thinks I still will be.
You have to understand history, geography, literature.
Its art, its everything.
I dont know anything about Hinduism, Islam, so many other religions, and I wish I did.
That feels like a sign of respect.
I have never been religious.
Theres such value in that to me.
I like the idea of going back to divinity school.
The power of letting go.
Just let it go.
Im not coming from a place of, I have this unshakeable faith that I have to share.
Its coming from a human place a place of respect and curiosity.
Time to leave Joseph and head back to the valet, the freeway, the city.
As we get back in her car, Im still trying to imagine Garner as a minister.
I ask if she has any regrets.
You cant have regrets in life, she says.
Of course you might, I tell her.
Maybe youre not trying hard enough?
She shakes her head.
First of all, whats the point?
They sink you, and for what?
Theres nothing to be gained.
Garner is famously disciplined and nothing to be gained feels like it could be a mantra.
Maybe even a sermon.
We have to be mentally disciplined if were going to survive, she says as we drive.
You have to be tough on yourself.
You have to do the things.
You have to work out because that keeps you mentally steady.
You have to work through your shit.
I have made my own way.
Ive made my own money.
I knew not a soul and I did it.
Despite her near saintly Hollywood reputation, Garners own perspective is a bit more nuanced.
Finally, were back where we started, the workshop studios, now empty.
Its celebrity interviewing etiquette: Dont hesitate if you have follow-up questions.
Sure, Ill reach out to your rep, I reply.
No, no, no.
I mean, sure, but thats not what I meant, she says.
Ive been through a lot of it already.
Its an invitation to be part of her small, lovely coven, if only for a moment.
For now, I say goodbye and get into my car.
Garner has plans tonight and I need to call my kids.
These are awesome because they resurface the skin with a little glycolic acid.
I use them once a week.
Its been my favorite for years and Im only on my second stick.
You dont need to spend a billion dollars for great skin.
[Garner is a brand spokesperson.]
This brush makes sure I reach every strand.
[Garner is a brand partner.]
This is my favorite answer to summer.
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