Ben Affleck says Jennifer Garner declined to co-star with him in Animals

Ben Affleck has revealed that his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner, declined the opportunity to star opposite him in the new film Animals.

In an interview for Entertainment Weekly published this week, the actor-director recalled how Garner and his longtime collaborator, Matt Damon, were originally set to be the leads in his upcoming crime thriller.

But after Damon exited the project due to his commitments to filming The Odyssey, Affleck decided to take on the role of mayoral candidate Mark Kimball himself - leading to an awkward conversation with Garner.

"I talked to Jen, and she was like, 'We don't wanna do that. You just get baggage,'" he recalled to the outlet.

The Oscar winner insisted that he would like to work with Garner again following their previous collaborations on 2001's Pearl Harbor and 2003's Daredevil.

"I would love to work with her, frankly. She's fabulous, and we're really good friends, and I'm profoundly grateful to her, and we have a great thing," the 54-year-old continued. "I still would wanna work with her in the future, but what you don't wanna do is take the audience's baggage and have it work against you, you know?"

Ultimately, Kerry Washington was cast as Affleck's onscreen wife in Animals, his latest directorial effort.

Affleck and Garner were married from 2005 until they divorced in 2018. They share three children: Violet, 20, Fin, 17, and Samuel, 14.

Animals, also featuring Gillian Anderson, Ray Fisher, and Steven Yeun, will be available in select U.S. cinemas and on Netflix from 9 October.