‘Wakefield’ Gave Jennifer Garner A Taste Of Isolation And She Liked It

In Wakefield, Jennifer Garner plays the wife (Diana) to Bryan Cranston’s Howard Wakefield, a disillusioned lawyer who fakes his disappearance to see how his family will react to his absence. Wakefield remains secreted away for an entire year, while he watches his family, friends, and co-workers go about their lives. For Jennifer, she was more readily able to identify with Cranston’s character than the role her own character plays in Wakefield. In a new interview, Ms. Garner admits there is a certain appeal to the idea of stepping back and watching one’s life from the position of a passive observer.

Jennifer Garner Sees The Appeal Wakefield Presents

In Wakefield, Cranston’s character actually suffers a mental breakdown and that’s what prompts his decision to go hide in his attic, leaving his loved ones to wonder what happened to him. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Jennifer Garner says there’s an appeal to that concept, though without the added challenge of a nervous breakdown as a motivating factor.

“I think anyone can imagine just the desire to drop out of their own lives,” Garner says. “It’s just to actually do it, to follow through and to live outside of your life [while] watching your own life for a year, [that] is pretty out there.”

While Garner does see the appeal, she was quick to add that she’s never considered running away from her three children. Jennifer loves her life in spite of the challenges she now faces as a divorced mom. Together with estranged husband Ben Affleck, Garner is a mother to Violet Affleck, 11, Seraphina Rose Elizabeth Affleck, eight, and Samuel Garner Affleck, five.

Jennifer also commented on her working relationship with her Wakefield co-star, saying that Bryan Cranston was fun to work with and that he could be “such a goofball” at times.

Ms. Garner added that she developed a new respect for Cranston, after watching him suffer for his art in Wakefield.

“He was constantly putting a beard on, putting dirty nails on, he got skinnier and skinnier all the time,” reveals Wakefield star Jennifer Garner. “I don’t know why I work with these guys who are all getting skinny! But whatever, he did, he really went through it.”

Jennifer Made Money In The 90s By Working For Stephen Colbert

Ms. Garner recently made an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and, as Refinery 29 reports, it was revealed that Garner and Colbert have a long history together. In the 90s, Jennifer was an up and coming actress, but still in need of additional income, so she sought out odd jobs and that led her to become acquainted with Colbert and his daughter, Madeleine.

Jennifer and Stephen met on the set of Spin City, when both celebrities were making guest appearances in one episode of the series. While on the set, Jennifer confessed to Stephen that she was in need of money. As it happened, Colbert was also in need, but, in his case, he was looking for an additional nanny.

Garner recalls that the opportunity worked well for both of them and shared a happy memory from her time as Madeleine’s babysitter.

“I remember the two of us, like, going into your drawers and trying on your clothes,” said Ms. Garner.

Since that time, Jennifer Garner has found steady acting work and rose to fame with her role on ABC’s Alias, which also earned Garner a Golden Globe and an Emmy.

Wakefield, starring Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Garner, and Beverly D’Angelo, is currently showing in theaters.

Jennifer Garner is currently filming the animated Dylan Brown adventure, Amusement Park, which also features Mila Kunis and Matthew Broderick. Amusement Park is set for an August 10, 2018, theatrical release.

[Featured Image by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images]