There’s a lot of reasons we love Jennifer Garner—her pretend cooking show, her friendship with Ina Garten (yes, we’re still jealous) and her solid parenting advice. That being said, we can’t forget about the actress’s incredibly successful film career (she's come a long way from her Alias days).
Garner checks all the boxes (drama, thriller, comedy, romance), so when it came to ranking our favorite Jennifer Garner movies, it was actually really tough. Read on for our picks.
Of course this one is at the top of our list. Garner plays an awkward middle-schooler whose wish to be “thirty, flirty and thriving” comes true overnight. As you can imagine, hijinx ensues as she tries to navigate her new life and career as a teen in an adult woman’s body.
Name a better duo than Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Garner. OK, so her role as a model is rather small in this film, but still important. (Fun fact: Director Steven Spielberg specifically sought her out for the cameo because he liked her work on Alias.)
While Ellen Page is the star of the flick about pregnant teenager, Garner plays the vital role of Vanessa, the woman who wants to adopt her baby.
One of the most critically acclaimed movies on this list, Garner stars alongside Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto in a story that follows a Texas man as he deals with his AIDS diagnoses in the 1980s.
In this romantic comedy, Garner plays a loving mom (and therapist) to a teen coming to terms with his homosexuality. The film won the GLAAD Award for outstanding film and received recognition from the Teen Choice Awards and the MTV Movie Awards.
This movie takes place in a world where lying doesn't exist. The now 47-year-old actress plays the love interest of Ricky Gervais’s character (who invents the “lie”), and her brutal honesty is just too good to ignore.
In this Disney film, Cindy Green (Garner) and her husband, Jim (Joel Edgerton) are having trouble conceiving a child. When they bury a box containing all of their wishes for a baby in their backyard, one magically appears.
Wakefield features Garner as the wife of a man (Bryan Cranston) who suffers from a nervous breakdown and fakes his own disappearance by hiding out in their garage attic (we’re not kidding). And although the film isn’t necessarily lighthearted, Garner’s intensity is impressive.
Garner shows off her serious side as a member of the FBI team investigating the bombing of a housing complex in Saudi Arabia.
This Michael Bay film takes place during World War II. Garner plays Sandra, a nurse, and appears alongside Ben Affleck (who she met on set and later married), Kate Beckinsale, Josh Hartnett, Cuba Gooding Jr., Tom Sizemore and Jon Voight.
Yup, this film is literally about butter. Specifically, butter sculpting. Garner portrays Laura Pickler, wife of the 15-time winner of the annual sculpting competition. And this year, she's decided to compete too.
In this football drama, Garner plays the team's salary cap analyst who has quite a complicated love story with a very important team member.
One of her most recent films, Garner plays Riley North, a woman who lost her husband and daughter in a senseless act of violence and seeks revenge on the people responsible.
Perhaps one of her lesser-known roles, Garner is seen alongside Al Pacino in this film about an aging musician (Pacino) who tries to mend his relationship with his grown-up son Tom (Bobby Cannavale). The actress plays Tom’s wife Samantha.
This seasonal romantic comedy follows a handful of people on Valentine's Day. The movie has a star-studded cast including Jessica Alba, Ashton Kutcher, Emma Roberts, Kathy Bates, Jamie Foxx, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper and Patrick Dempsey.
Garner portrays Patricia Beltmeyer, an overprotective mother who constantly monitors her daughter's online content consumption in this film about relationships between teenagers and their parents.
OK, the critics hated it. But seeing Garner as a master fighter is worth it. Based on the Marvel comic, the actress plays an assassin-for-hire who decides to defect and stand up against her employer in order to protect a father and his young daughter.
