Jennifer Garner's 10-year marriage to Ben Affleck collapsed in a media frenzy that she is still fielding questions about more than half a decade later, but the co-parents are still undeniably there for each other (and their three kids).
In a cover story for The Hollywood Reporter, Garner opened up about her ex, whose treatment in the industry she acknowledged to be different than hers.
"People are in awe of him," Garner said of Affleck. "He's done incredible things, he's six-four, he's … him, and they treat him with a kind of reverence. They say that people treat me like we were just in the middle of a conversation and they want to get back to it. They'll see me and be like, 'Oh, I've been meaning to tell you … '"
Garner said the paparazzi swarm peaked when she and Affleck began dating in the early 2000s. The attention has been particularly difficult for the Affleck-Garner brood (Violet, 15, Seraphina, 12, and Samuel, 9), who grew up afraid of cameras.
"When they were smaller and there were things out there that were shocking, my request to them was always, 'Let Dad and I talk you through whatever it is,'" she said regarding the barrage of inflammatory headlines that circled Affleck. "I'd tell them, 'If you see an image on the front of a magazine, I'll look at it with you and we'll process all the scary feelings that come up together.'"
Speaking to the incredibly public nature of her divorce, Garner said "Going through it in public is not what's hard, going through it is what's hard, A. And B, my children's eyes are on me."
The profile's writer, Lacey Rose, asked Garner about a quote she'd given Vanity Fair in 2016 describing how she'd "lost the dream of dancing with [her] husband at [her] daughter's wedding."
But Garner said that's no longer the case. "When our kids get married, we'll dance, I know that now," the Alias alum explained. "We'll boogaloo and have a great time. I don't worry about that anymore."