Jennifer Garner never thought she’d be an actress — let alone an A-lister on the big screen.
The “13 Going On 30” star made the surprising revelation while chatting with her best friends Molly Sims and Emese Gromley on the “Lipstick on the Rim” podcast released on Tuesday.
“I didn’t think that that was a possibility,” Garner said. “I didn’t think about it anyway. There’s so many jobs I’ve always wanted to do. I still feel that way. I’m still like any minute in my fifties, I’m going to go back to school and study.”
She added: “But it was just kind of what I did. And it was an extracurricular that took over my life. And so, I danced every day after school.”
The Emmy-nominated actress, born in Texas but raised in Charleston, West Virginia, had a packed schedule as a teenager. She taught ballet to young kids, took dance lessons after school and would rehearse for the dance company she was in or with a community theater.
The performer said she would often be with her mentor Nina Denton Pasinetti, who encouraged her to participate in both dance and then acting.
“So I was pretty myopic, but … my dad would sit me down and say, ‘Jennifer, it’s wonderful that you’re doing this, but shouldn’t you be focusing just on something real to study in and to study for?’” she said according to Fox News.
Sims suggested that the “Deadpool & Wolverine” leading lady was “following a dream” to pursue the arts but the star was quick to clarify that this wasn’t the case.
“It wasn’t like it was a dream. It was a love. I was following a love. I just had so much love for it and I wanted and I still feel that way,” Garner said.
Despite Garner not seeking the spotlight at an early age, she moved to Los Angeles in the 90s when she was offered a role on “Felicity.”
By 2001 she starred as Agent Sydney Bristow in “Alias” and has since made a name for herself in major films like “Pearl Harbor,” “Elektra” and “Juno.”
The ladies on the podcast didn’t touch on Garner’s 2018 divorce from actor Ben Affleck. Garner shares three kids, Violet, 18, Seraphina, 15, and Samuel, 12, with Affleck.
Engagement rumors have surfaced recently after Garner was seen wearing a gold ring.
She’s been dating businessman John Miller on and off since 2018 – the same year Garner and Affleck finalized their divorce – but there hasn’t been an official announcement of an engagement.
