Jennifer Garner's Quotes

I know I live a charmed, beautiful life and nobody wants to hear a celebrity whine. The last thing I want to do is complain; I love what I do and I know every job comes with a downside.

I mean, any time an actress gets to work with another actress, it's like, 'Oh, there are two of us in a movie! How are you? Let's sit in the hair chair together!' We're lonely women.

I mean, I didn't ever watch 'Gilligan's Island' and think, 'Those people are actors.' I lived in West Virginia. Hollywood just felt like this total other universe.

I rebelled by not getting straight A's and not following the path that my elder sister did. She was valedictorian and is very exemplary in her way. I look a lot like her, so I just had to do the opposite. Not that I got bad grades, but I was all about performance and just finding any way that I could to be involved in any kind of production.

I remember, my mom didn't have any help, so if she needed to be somewhere after school, we'd just go down to the neighbors' and she'd give us a snack and make sure we did our homework. There weren't any latchkey kids.

I think that it's not as crazily different, my job, from anyone else's, as people let themselves believe. I think people get wrapped up in their own idea of what it is, but it's really not that.

I'm still really close with everyone at home and their parents - and their brothers and sisters. I was so, so, so lucky to grow up as part of a community and I don't take that for granted. I try very hard to stay part of it.

It's about getting the kids up and fed, getting one to school, getting the other down for a nap, going to the grocery store, picking one up from school, getting the other one down for another nap, cooking dinner... I live my life at these two extremes. I'm either a full-time stay-at-home mom or a full-time actress.

My mom grew up in poverty in Oklahoma - like Dust Bowl, nine people in one room kind of place - and the way she got out of poverty was through education. My dad grew up without a dad, with very little and he also made his way out through education.

My mom has always said that the one thing she wishes she had done differently is have a job. She felt like the single-mindedness made her a little nuts sometimes, and she could have used an outlet for herself when we were little.

My mother and father always supported my passion for acting. I think they just kind of expected me to move to New York and become an actress and have all these adventures.

My mother is a big believer in being responsible for your own happiness. She always talked about finding joy in small moments and insisted that we stop and take in the beauty of an ordinary day. When I stop the car to make my kids really see a sunset, I hear my mother's voice and smile.

My parents came from a poor background and worked their way up because of education. They saw it as a way to succeed. So they cared about me getting straight A grades when I was growing up.

My sisters both are working mothers. I understand that my being an actress as well as being at home isn't some heroic thing. That doesn't mean it isn't confusing or difficult - especially that question of how you find a balance.

To become a classical ballerina, you have to move to New York when you're 12 or 11 and that becomes your life. I just wanted to be good in my company in Charleston and I wanted it to always be part of my life.

We all have a responsibility to volunteer somewhere and I'm lucky that I get the education and get taken to places to see what's out there and see what's happening and to then be a part of it in hopefully an impactful way.

My parents started with very little and were the only ones in their families to graduate from college. As parents, they focused on education, but did not stop at academics - they made sure that we knew music, saw art and theatre and traveled - even though it meant budgeting like crazy.

I wish I was one of those cute pregnant girls who wear skinny jeans throughout their pregnancies. But I just gain weight.

I do think about aging. I have those moments of panic and vanity, but life keeps getting better, so you can't worry about it too much.

I thought the divorce statistics would never apply to me. I was beyond heartbroken when they did. But I got up and got on with it. I also kept my belief in marriage.

I will tell you what I can't abide - and I think the Internet has really created a space for it - women criticizing other women and mothers criticizing other mothers.

And you can't hide in a comedy scene either. You have to give in to the scene and commit.

But I'll never be one of those women who feel that they always have to wear earrings and aren't properly dressed without them.

Going after 'the bad guy' has not been a real issue for me.

Growing up where I did, the thought of working on a television show or in a movie... that existed on a parallel plane, you know?

I am usually part of any disaster at a wedding if I'm a bridesmaid, which I've been lucky enough to be several times.

I certainly never expected to be in front of a camera one day of my life.

I do all my own stunts!

I have always been drawn to child-related causes. I find that people listen to me more when I advocate for children now that I have my own.

I hoped, hoped, that maybe I'd be lucky enough to do something on Broadway, in the chorus.

I just try work out at least twice a week if I can.

I love being physical and acting at the same time.

I love the feeling of being on a team, rehearsing together, sharing a dressing room - I love that so much.

I never had a problem resisting somebody that I knew was going to break my heart.

I think that baseball games are like soap operas. If you watch five in a row, you know enough to get hooked.

I try to eat in a way that makes me feel good. If that means a little bite of chocolate I do that, but I try not to use food as a reward for myself.

I was a ballet dancer and that kind of bled into musical theater. I was constantly in rehearsal for one thing or another.

I wasn't a woman who stayed tiny like I thought I would. I definitely gave myself the freedom to eat what I wanted.

I would roll up pennies to take the subway to work in Times Square. I was broke, but I was happy.

I'm privileged, because I have a lot of freedom. I want to use it to make as warm and normal a life as I can for our daughters.

I'm still conflict-averse. I don't like to argue.