Jennifer Garner described her complicated love life with Ben Affleck using a line from one of Matt Damon’s breakout films.

Ben Affleck’s longest relationship was with his first wife Jennifer Garner which lasted for nearly a decade. The former couple announced their split in 2015 and went separate ways, but they still respected each other. During an interview, Garner shared her honest opinion on what life with Affleck was like. Interestingly, she might have borrowed a line from Affleck’s best friend’s movie to describe him.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner in Daredevil | Credits: 20th Century Fox

Garner’s poetic description might have come from Matt Damon’s film The Talented Mr. Ripley. Notably, the line in the film was delivered by Affleck’s ex-girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow. Fans once again revisited the Affleck-Garner marriage after the Batman star separated from his wife of two years Jennifer Lopez.

Jennifer Garner Used A Line From Matt Damon’s Film To Describe Ben Affleck

Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, and Matt Damon in The Talented Mr. Ripley | Credits: Paramount Pictures

Jennifer Garner had a casual conversation about her marriage to ex Ben Affleck during a 2016 interview with Vanity Fair. Garner shared that she would always go back in time and make the same decision to marry Affleck again. She called him “the love of my life,” while adding that she didn’t marry the “big fat movie star” but the real him.

Garner shared that it was hard to overlook what they had together after three babies and all the things they went through in the 10+ years. While using the adjectives brilliant, most charismatic, and most generous to describe her ex, she also shared that he was a “complicated guy”. Garner used this line to describe Affleck during the Vanity Fair interview:

I always say, ‘When his sun shines on you, you feel it.’ But when the sun is shining elsewhere, it’s cold. He can cast quite a shadow.

If the line sounds very familiar, it is because Gwyneth Paltrow spoke a similar line in a film that saw Affleck’s best friend playing a con artist. Matt Damon‘s The Talented Mr. Ripley centered around the titular character’s attempts to bring a rich and spoiled playboy back to his family. Paltrow’s Marge Sherwood is the girlfriend of Jude Law‘s rich boy.

In one of the scenes, she talks about her boyfriend to Damon’s Ripley, “The thing with Dickie . . . it’s like the sun shines on you, and it’s glorious. And then he forgets you, and it’s very, very cold.” While it’s not exactly a verbatim of what Garner said, the idea is very similar. Also, Affleck, with all his shortcomings, is not anything like Law’s Dickie Greenleaf in the film.

A Look Back At Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck’s Relationship

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner in Daredevil | Credits: 20th Century Fox

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner first met on the sets of Pearl Harbor where Affleck had a major role while Garner played the small role of a nurse. They later paired up in the movie Daredevil and became friends on the sets of the movie. At that time, Affleck was dating Jennifer Lopez and Garner was married to her Felicity co-star Scott Foley.

By the summer of 2004, both actors were single and their friendship turned romantic. They got engaged later that year and tied the knot in June 2005. They had three children together — Violet Anne, Seraphina Rose Elizabeth, and Samuel Garner.

They shared plenty of sweet moments over the decade-long marriage before going separate ways in 2015. Their divorce was finalized in 2018. Affleck spoke highly of Garner during an interview on CBS This Morning in 2016. He shared (via PEOPLE):

I am a giant fan of Jennifer. She’s just a fabulous person. She’s just a wonderful person. She’s a great mother. She’s a real talent. She … has set such a good example and a lead that I follow. She’s somebody that I admire and respect and remain excellent friends with.

Lopez and Affleck married in 2022 but announced their split last month. The Let’s Get Loud singer filed for divorce on August 20, 2024. Page Six reported that Affleck purchased a mansion for $20 million in Pacific Palisades, California. Reports suggested that he moved closer to his ex-wife Garner’s home so that he could focus on being a father to their kids.