Jennifer Anne Garner (born April 17, 1972) is a Golden Globe Award- and SAG Award-winning and Emmy Award-nominated American film and television actress, and producer. She first became known for her role as Sydney Bristow on Alias, a CIA agent.
Garner was born in Houston, Texas to Patricia Ann English, an English teacher, and Billy Jack Garner, a chemical engineer who worked for Union Carbide; she is the middle child between two sisters, Melissa Garner Wylie (who lives in Boston, Massachusetts) and Susannah Garner Carpenter (who lives in Charleston, West Virginia). Her family is Methodist. At three years old, Garner began taking ballet lessons which she continued throughout her youth. Although she admitted that she loved dancing, she never had ambitions to become a classical ballerina. When she was four years old, her father's job with Union Carbide relocated her family to Princeton, West Virginia, then to Charleston, West Virginia, where Garner resided until her college years.
In 1990, Garner graduated from George Washington High School in Charleston, where she played the saxophone. She then enrolled at Denison University to study chemistry. Upon realizing that she enjoyed stage acting more than science, Garner changed her major to drama. While at Denison, Garner was initiated into the sorority Pi Beta Phi. Garner graduated from Denison in 1994 and hoped to continue her drama education at Yale University. However, keen for experience, she visited her friend, Clayton Kirlew, in New York City in 1995 and decided to take her chances in theatre.
In New York City, Garner earned $150 a week as an understudy in a play. She was then cast in her first television role, a part in the made-for-television movie, Zoya, based on the Danielle Steel novel. Her next acting jobs were in two short-lived television series, Significant Others and Time of Your Life, and a recurring role in the series Felicity. Garner appeared in the comedy Dude, Where's My Car?, playing Ashton Kutcher's girlfriend. In 2001, she appeared as a nurse in the big-budget epic Pearl Harbor, co-starring with Kate Beckinsale and Garner's future husband Ben Affleck.
Later in 2001, J. J. Abrams (who produced Felicity) approached Garner about starring in a new show he was working on for ABC. Garner auditioned for and was cast in the role of Sydney Bristow in the spy drama Alias. The series became a success and Garner won the award for "Best Actress in a Television Series - Drama" at the January 2002 Golden Globes. Alias had just begun a few months beforehand, and Garner won the award with only half the season's episodes aired. The series was successful, concluding in May 2006 after a fifth, abbreviated season (due to Garner's pregnancy, a development that was written into the storyline of the fifth season). Garner's salary for the show began at $45,000 an episode, rising to $150,000 per episode by the series' end. During the show's run, Garner received four consecutive Golden Globe nominations for her lead performance. She also received four consecutive Emmy nominations for "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series." Garner won the "Actor Award" from the Screen Actors Guild in 2005. In March 2005, Garner directed the fourth-season Alias episode, "In Dreams," which aired in May. Garner received producer credit during the series' final season.
After the initial success of Alias, Garner returned to her film career with a small role in the Steven Spielberg film Catch Me If You Can, and starred alongside Ben Affleck as Elektra Natchios in the action movie Daredevil, an adaptation of the comic book. She reprised her role as "Elektra" in the 2005 spin-off to Daredevil, entitled Elektra. Garner showed her comedic side in the romantic comedy 13 Going on 30, which was a financial success and established her as a leading feature film actress. Garner is known for performing her own stunts, and in January 2005 was forced to bow out of some publicity duties for Elektra, due to what was first thought to have been a viral infection but was revealed to be the effects of nerve damage to her back, caused by a stunt during the filming of the fourth season of Alias.
Garner entered the Forbes' "Power 100" list of celebrities in 2005 at 70th place. From June 2004 to June 2005, she earned an estimated US $14 million. During the 2006 Academy Awards ceremony, Garner stumbled on her flowing dress (designed by Michael Kors) as she came onto the stage to present the award for Sound Editing. She did not fall, but lost her balance, and jokingly commented, "I do my own stunts!"
Catch and Release, Garner's most recent romantic comedy, was released January 26, 2007. Garner has formed a production company named Vandalia Films, which will produce its first film in 2007. She will produce the company's upcoming films Sabbatical and Be with You. Garner takes her first role as part of an ensemble in The Kingdom alongside Jamie Foxx and Jason Bateman. Box office analysts have commented the choice was smart on Garner's part, as her other projects with her as the sole lead are risky gambles. Garner was set to star in Zach Braff's directorial feature of Open Hearts but backed out of the project so she could spend more time with her family.
It has been reported by Entertainment Tonight and other media outlets that Garner has been cast to appear in the Jason Reitman-directed comedy/drama feature Juno, which begins filming in February 2007 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Wikipedia |
