Jennifer Garner Opens Up About The Problems Of Having A “Nice” Persona
Another day, another celebrity talking about their persona of being “nice.” Yesterday, Tom Hanks said that he’s not a 24/7 nice guy and has acted like an asshole on-set before. “You don’t say?!” said Henry Winkler. And now, wholesome star of Capital One commercials, Neutrogena ads, and a dozen movies where she plays the nice mom, Jennifer Garner, is talking about her “nice” person. In a world where celebrities get revenge on their exes on Instagram, by placing witches on balconies or releasing threatening claymation videos, Jennifer stays supportive of ex-husband Ben Affleck and says shit like she’s “happy” for him. But despite having a heart of gold so pure she could trade it in for cash, Jen says there’s a downside to being seen as “nice.”
In an interview with Allure, Jen spills that having a reputation like hers isn’t sustainable all the time since well, she’s not a robot and doesn’t feel like being nice all the time!
“The problem with, ‘Oh, she’s so nice’ is that when I have any kind of boundary, people think of it as much more than it actually is,” says Garner. “The problem is being recognized on a day where I’m not so nice or when I have blackness in my soul. I’ve definitely had days where I just can’t do it. I scowl at people before they can walk up to me. I’m not perfect, and I don’t think I’m rude, but I’m not good at being fake. I’m an open book of a person.”
And one reason we won’t ever see Jen go off on the messy father of her children is that she always keeps in mind a sermon her childhood minister gave about the power of letting go. Jennifer also said that she loves the idea of being a minister herself (on brand for the nice lady).
“As a kid, my family and I, we always referenced this one beautiful sermon,” Garner recalls, “where our minister talked about taking something hard that had happened and imagining yourself going down to the banks of the river and fashioning a beautiful box out of what you find there and placing this hurt carefully in the box and watching it float down the river. The power of letting go. Don’t carry it. Just let it go.”
Amen! Now if only they taught that at Kanye’s church!
And here’s Jennifer channeling Alias‘ Sydney Bristow in Allure:
Pic: Tom Schirmacher/Allure