Jennifer Anne Garner was born on April 17, 1972 in Houston, Texas to Bill & Pat Garner. Bill is a retired chemical engineer and Pat is a retired college English teacher. Her parents were always supportive of Jennifer and helped her to pursue her dreams. "My parents never said anything except, 'Go for it.'" While growing up Jennifer studied ballet for six hours a day which helped teach her discipline that would help her later in life.


Jennifer is the middle daughter. She has always had a close relationship with her two sisters, Melissa (who is older) and Suzannah (who is younger). Even though Jennifer has said "We did have raging fights about [borrowing clothes] and using the phone". You can tell that Jennifer really respects and admires her sisters. "My big sister Melissa, is such a stud and my little sister Suzanna, has always had a perfect body and big blue eyes. We were a force." The family often has foreign exchange students in their home, so Jen often shared a room with her sister Melissa. Melissa was the class valedictorian and a champion majorette. Jennifer wanted to stand out so she took up the saxaphone and joined the swim team.

Jennifer graduated from George Washington High School in the class of 1990 and went on to attend Dennison University. She started college majoring in Chemistry. She later changed her major to drama when she realized that her passion for the stage outweighed her love of science. After graduating from Dennison in 1994 she headed to New York City to pursue her career. When she first moved to NYC, she got a job being an understudy in a play earning $150 a week. "I would roll up pennies to take the subway to work in Times Square. I was broke, but I was happy." It might not have been easy, but it was here that Jen scored her first television role as Melissa Gilbert's daughter on the miniseries "Zoya" based on Danielle Steel's book. The next few roles that Jennifer received were in two Hallmark Hall of Fame fims, "Harvest of Fire" and "Rose Hill". Jennifer did a few other feature films before landing her first role on a television series, "Significant Others". The show started during mid-season and didn't do well in its time slot and was quickly cacelled. "I loved this show. It was well written and I loved the guys. We had a blast. I was really bummed when it was cancelled."

The next step in Jennifer's life was to move to Los Angeles (following a boyfriend, which didn't work out) where she got a job as a hostess at the restuarant Isabella's. It was then that things started to change for Jen as she got a role on the WB series, "Felicity" as Hanna Bibb, the girlfriend of Noel played by Scott Foley. The role as Hanna Bibb helped Jennifer get some recognition, but it also helped her meet the man who would later become her husband.

"I was definitely attracted to him at first sight, but I didn't realize I was going to marry him until a while in. It grew really gradually and sweetly, and it was a real courtship." The couple started dating and a few months into the relationship they went to Paris together. A year into the relationship they bought a house together. When they had been dating for two years Scott proposed to Jennifer. Jen was shocked to say the least. "I knew we were going to marry someday, but I was absolutely surprised when he actually proposed. And surprised he had bought a ring. I ran around the yard screaming." Six weeks later the couple married in a small backyard wedding on October 19, 2000.

Meanwhile, Jennifer's career was moving along as she was cast as Romy the roommate to Jennifer Love Hewitt's Sarah, on the spin-off series "The Time of Your Life". Unfortunately, this series was cancelled also, due to low ratings. Jen next went on to star in a film as the frustrated girlfriend to Ashton Kutcher's character in "Dude, Where's My Car?" "It was so fun. We were just goofy. It's amazing, no matter how full your resume is, this is the first credit people go to because everyone loves the title." Jen was also cast in the Michael Bay film "Pearl Harbor" as the third lead for a female as Nurse Sandra, a kind of geeky and serious nurse. "I loved making this movie because you usually never work with a group of women, and I loved that we just had women together every day at work. Kate was so fun."

The next step in the right direction was when J.J. Abrams, the producer of Felicity approached Jennifer with a new show that he was working on. He thought that Jennifer would be right for and encouraged her to audition. When she heard about the role on Alias, Jennifer decided to start taking Tae Kwon Do lessons. She pulled out a yellow pages and found Master Yu and started taking lessons daily for an hour a day. She attended numerous auditions over the course of a month and was really excited to be able to show off her martial art skills at her last audition.

She got the part as Sydney Bristow, student by day, double agent the rest of the time. Jennifer does a lot of the stunts that Alias requires herself, unless as she puts it they are crazy, then she has a stunt double do them. But it took a while, "I did go overboard. We shot the scene where I was in the shower, and I was so bruised we had to cover my bruises with tattoo paint - they were just huge." Unlike Jennifer's past series, this one was a hit.

And to prove it, Jen won a Golden Globe in January of 2002. She wowed many people with her sincere acceptance speech, she thanked her mom & dad, her cast, and "Uh, I’ve often said to J.J Abrams, the creator of the show, I don’t know why you cast me in this role, I don’t know why you thought I could do it. I know I was good in Dude Where’s My Car, but seriously... I, I can’t thank you enough, for believing in me, and for fighting for me, and, and writing what you write. Um, and the most significant thing you did to change my life was introduce me to my husband, the most handsome date in the room...and a man who made me feel confident and beautiful long before I started walking like Sydney Bristow."

Jennifer continued to grow in popularity with fans and filmmakers, as she took on roles in Steven Speilberg's "Catch Me If You Can" opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and in the film "Daredevil" as assassin, Elektra opposite Ben Affleck and Colin Farrell. For her role as Elektra, Jennifer studied with martial arts choreographer, Cheung Yan Yang and trainer Don Lee. "I love this physical stuff which is why I wanted to do Daredevil because I wanted to learn what Daredevil could teach me."

Unfortunately in March of 2003 Jen & Scott announced that they were seperating. When asked why it didn't work Jennifer explained, "Honestly, I just don't have enough perspective on it yet ... I think there are a million reasons why things don't work. The thing is, everyone says that when you're in Hollywood, you're living in the fast lane, but that's what it feels like -- everything speeds up. If a (relationship) is not going to work 10 years from now, it feels like it's accelerated to this frenzy and then, it's not working -- boom! And you're like, 'What just happened?'"

Jennifer's next role is in a film called "13 Going on 30" opposite Mark Ruffalo which is due in theaters the last week of May 2004. "It's ... the female version of Big. But it's a movie with a lot of heart, and it should be funny." We can't wait!

Jen currently lives in Los Angeles where she films "Alias". She is currently dating her co-star Michael Vartan whom she claims is her best friend.