After Jennifer Garner initially split from Ben Affleck in 2015, she said she had no choice but to focus on staying home and rearing their three children, whose ages ranged from 2 to 9 years old at the time.

Meanwhile, Affleck was able to keep working in his profession, starring in major films like “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “The Accountant,” as the Daily Mail reported.

But as Garner said in a new interview with InStyle, her children, Violet, 20, Finn, 17, and Samuel, 13, are older. So that means she has time to “indulge” in acting, a pursuit that makes her very happy.

“When my kids were little, I worked so little, and then we had such an upheaval in our family, that I really hardly worked for a long time,” said Garner, who first became famous starring in the hit TV spy drama, “Alias.”

Now that Garner has time to do more film and streaming projects, she said, “I’m really grateful to have this part of my life back.”

“(It’s a gift) to have this year and a half where I just indulged (in acting), because this job is very selfish,” she told InStyle. For the interview, she was promoting her upcoming project, “The Five Star Weekend,” an eight-episode miniseries for Peacock.

“It’s all about your schedule,” Garner said, explaining how acting can be “selfish.” She said, “It’s not about what the kids have going on at school. It’s not about pickups and drop-offs and making it home for dinner.”

Garner also said she wants to work as much as she can right now. “I’m 54. I’m not going to be able to do it forever,” she said.

After starring in “Alias,” Garner transitioned into movies and seemed on track to become an A-list film star with roles in the beloved romantic comedy, “13 Going on 30,” and with supporting or ensemble roles in “Juno” and “Valentine’s Day.”

Garner married Affleck in 2005 after befriending him on the sets of “Pearl Harbor” and “Daredevil.” They soon started a family, while Affleck pursued his dream of directing movies, receiving acclaim for his work on “Gone Baby Gone,” “The Town,” and “Argo,” with “Argo” winning the 2012 Academy Award for best picture.

The couple first separated in 2015, and it was subsequently known that Garner supported Affleck with his struggles with alcoholism during and after the marriage.

After the couple’s separation, they let it be known that they were partners in co-parenting, and Affleck continued to live in a guesthouse at the family home until 2017. However, it also was reported that Affleck had been unfaithful during the marriage, through Affleck denied these reports, according to Entertainment Tonight.

Affleck also allegedly had a relationship with their children’s nanny, Christine Ouzounian. In a 2016 interview with Vanity Fair, Garner addressed the nanny reports, saying, “Let me just tell you something. We had been separated for months before I ever heard about the nanny. She had nothing to with our decision to divorce. She was not a part of the equation.”

Garner and Affleck finalized their divorce in 2018, after Garner helped Affleck return to rehab after he relapsed and began drinking again. At the time, TMZ and other outlets published photos of Garner staging an intervention at Affleck’s mansion and driving him to a facility in Los Angeles County, where he checked in for an extended stay.

In the aftermath of the divorce, Affleck dated actor Ana de Armas, whom he met on the set of “Deep Water,” from 2019 to early 2021. He then rekindled his famous, early 2000s romance with Jennifer Lopez in 2021. He and the pop star married in 2022, but separated two years later and finalized their divorce in 2025.

Garner has meanwhile been in a relationship with businessman John Miller for the past eight years, the Daily Mail reported.

Even though Garner feels that her hands-on parenting responsibilities have eased up somewhat in recent years, she told InStyle that she still feels the pull of being a mother.

“I relate to that feeling of like, ‘OK, I gave everything to mothering. I’m still their mom, I’m not going anywhere, I’m still all-in,'” she said. She also stressed that women need to be kind to themselves as they balance work and family.

“You have to raise yourself at the same time,” Garner said. “And just be so radically kind to yourself about how imperfect it is.”

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