Jennifer Garner

Jennifer Anne Garner (born April 17, 1972 in Houston, Texas) is an American film and television actress.

Biography

Garner was born to Patricia Ann English (a teacher) and Billy Jack Garner, an engineer whose job with Union Carbide forced the family to relocate to Charleston, West Virginia when Jennifer was three years old, where she remained until college. Jennifer studied ballet for nine years before enrolling at Denison University to study chemical engineering. Upon the realization that she loved the stage more than engineering she changed her major to drama.

She currently stars as the character Sydney Bristow on the TV show Alias.

Garner enjoys cooking, gardening, hiking and kickboxing (a hobby inspired by her character on Alias). She is a graduate of George Washington High School in Charleston, West Virginia (1990).

In 2005, Garner entered the Forbes Power 100 List of celebrities. Garner ranked as the 5th best paid actress in Hollywood, accumulating an estimated US$14 million over the year 2004/05. She came 8th behind Cameron Diaz in the power rankings.

Garner is known for performing her own stunts, and in January 2005 she was forced to bow out of some publicity duties for her film Elektra due to what was first thought to have been a viral infection. Media reports indicated that she was in fact suffering the effects of nerve damage to her back, caused by a stunt during the filming of Alias.

In addition to action films Garner has also starred in the comedy 13 Going on 30 and the upcoming drama from Susannah Grant (writer of Erin Brockovich) named Catch and Release.

Her production company, Vandalia Films will produce its first film in 2007; a remake of a Japanese Mystery Romance titled "Ima, ai ni yukimasu" roughly translated to "Be With You". She will produce alongside American Beauty producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen. Garner is set to star in the remake.

In March 2005, Garner directed the episode "In Dreams" for her series, Alias, which aired in May.

For the fifth season of the show she has been promoted to writer/producer level.

She has received four consecutive Emmy (the most prestigous American television acting award) nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. During her first nomination in 2002, she was expected by many people to win but lost out to "The West Wing"'s Allison Janney. The year of her second nomination, she lost to Edie Falco for her powerful performance in "The Sopranos." For Garner's third nomination, she again lost out to Janney. The most recent nomination in 2005 was not met with a win as "Medium"'s Patricia Arquette won.

She has received four consecutive Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress in a Television Series Drama, and won once. She won on her first nomination, which was in January of 2002. "Alias" had just begun a few months ago, meaning Garner beat the other nominees even though only half the season (roughly 11 or twelve episodes) had aired.

She won the Actor Award from the Screen Actors Guild in 2005. The category had only five nominees and is composed of all actresses in any dramatic roles, both lead and supporting.

Relationships

Interestingly, all of Garner's relationships are with her on-screen love interests, with whom she played. In 2000, Garner married Scott Foley, who played with her on the television show Felicity. The two later separated and subsequently filed for divorce in 2003. She then dated her Alias co-star Michael Vartan until mid-2004, when she started dating her Daredevil co-star Ben Affleck. Nevertheless, Garner and Vartan remained close friends.

Garner has since been together with Affleck, a relationship which has garnered significant media attention. On May 7, 2005 E! News reported that multiple sources close to Garner confirmed that she was pregnant. On June 30, 2005 publicists for both Affleck and Garner confirmed that the couple married the day before at the Parrot Cay resort in the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean, and that Garner is pregnant with her first child, a girl due in November. On September 27, 2005, on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Garner "accidently" referred to her unborn child as "she," acknowledging that she and her husband are expecting a girl. Although there has been rumors that she may has gaven birth already on Thanksgiving or on Black Friday.

Her pregnancy has been incorporated into her hit ABC show Alias. Garner is expected to be absent from several episodes that will be produced around and after the birth; as a result, the series added a new, Sydney Bristow-like character to the series that will take up the reins while Garner is indisposed.

Filmography

Acting Filmography

Be With You (2006)
Charlotte's Web (2006) (voice)
Catch and Release (2005) Grey
Elektra (2005) Elektra
13 Going on 30 (2004) Jenna Rink
Alias: The Video Game (2004) Sydney Bristow (voice)
The Simpsons (2003) Herself (voice)
Ep.: Treehouse of Horror XIV
Daredevil (2003) Elektra
Catch Me If You Can (2002) Cheryl Ann
Alias (2001-present) Sydney Bristow
Rennie's Landing (2001) Kiley Bradshaw
Pearl Harbor (2001) Nurse Sandra
Dude, Where's My Car? (2000) Wanda
Aftershock: Earthquake in New York (1999) Diane Agostini
Time of Your Life (1999) Romy Sullivan
The Pretender (1999) Billie H. Vaughn/DuPree
Significant Others (1998) Nell Glennon
1999 (1998) Annabell
Felicity (1998-2002) Hannah Bibb
Fantasy Island (1998) Sally
Deconstructing Harry (1997) Woman in elevator
Washington Square (1997) Marian Almond
Mr. Magoo (1997) Stacey Sampanahoditra
In Harm's Way (1997) Kelly
Harvest of Fire (1996) Sarah Troyer
Zoya (1995) Sasha