Ben Affleck’s Animals almost featured a very different onscreen marriage — one involving someone who knows him better than most. Before Kerry Washington joined the Netflix thriller, Affleck had Jennifer Garner in mind for the role of Abigail, the wife of his character, Los Angeles mayoral candidate Mark Kimball.
But as the project went through delays, recasting and a major creative reshuffle, that possibility became far more complicated. By the time Affleck stepped into Matt Damon’s original role, the idea of playing a troubled married couple with his former wife came with a real-life history that neither wanted hanging over the story.
Jennifer Garner was Affleck’s first choice for Abigail
The casting story began long before Animals reached its final form.
Affleck initially directed the project with longtime friend and collaborator Matt Damon attached to play Mark Kimball. Garner was being considered for Abigail, Mark’s wife. Because Damon would have been playing Mark at that stage, Garner would have been portraying Damon’s fictional wife rather than Affleck’s.
Affleck said he immediately thought Garner would be right for the role.
“I thought, God, Jen Garner would be amazing for this role,” Affleck told Entertainment Weekly.
There was also a practical reason the idea appealed to him. Affleck and Garner divorced in 2018 and share three children, while continuing to maintain a co-parenting relationship.
Affleck explained that having both parents involved in the same production could potentially have allowed them to spend more time with their children while coordinating their schedules.
At that point, however, there was no issue of Affleck and Garner portraying a married couple. Damon was still expected to play Mark, and Affleck was behind the camera.
Then Animals hit a major roadblock.
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Why Affleck stopped production on ‘Animals’
The project was interrupted after Affleck learned that Spike Lee and Denzel Washington were making Highest 2 Lowest, a movie that also involved a kidnapping.
Rather than push ahead with Animals so close to another major film built around a similar central premise, Affleck decided to halt production.
That pause ended up changing far more than the timing of the movie.
When Animals was eventually revived, one of its original central players was no longer available.
Matt Damon’s ‘The Odyssey’ commitment changed the cast
By the time Affleck returned to the project, Damon had committed to Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.
Universal confirms that Nolan’s film, starring Damon, was released theatrically in July 2026.
With Damon unavailable, Affleck made the decision to step in and play Mark himself.
That immediately changed the situation surrounding Garner.
The woman Affleck had originally imagined as Abigail would now potentially be playing his own onscreen wife in a story built around a marriage under enormous strain.
Affleck discussed the possibility with Garner. Her response ultimately helped settle the issue.
“I talked to Jen, and she was like, ‘We don’t wanna do that. You just get baggage,’” Affleck recalled.
The concern was not presented as a falling-out between the former couple.
Instead, it was about the unavoidable associations an audience might bring into a fictional marriage when the two actors have such a well-known shared history.
For a movie in which the relationship between Mark and Abigail is central to the suspense, that could have become a distraction.
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Affleck says he still wants to work with Jennifer Garner
Affleck was also clear that moving away from the idea of casting Garner was not a reflection of his present relationship with her.
He described Garner as someone he remains close to and said he would like to work with her professionally in the future.
“I would love to work with her, frankly,” he said, adding that she is “fabulous” and that he is “profoundly grateful” for their relationship.
The issue was simply that Animals required audiences to believe in a fictional marriage under extraordinary pressure.
Mark and Abigail are not presented as a conventional movie couple whose relationship exists merely in the background. Their marriage is one of the story’s major dramatic engines.
Affleck ultimately accepted that putting himself and Garner into those roles could have brought their real history into a story that needed viewers to focus on the characters instead.
Kerry Washington became Abigail in ‘Animals’
With Garner out of the picture, Affleck turned to Kerry Washington.
The two had become friends in recent years, and Affleck contacted her directly about the role.
Washington had the combination he was looking for: sophistication alongside emotional warmth.
“She’s very polished, but she’s also very warm,” Affleck said. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, she’s amazing for this.’”
Washington ultimately joined Affleck as Abigail.
Her casting created a completely different onscreen dynamic while allowing the filmmakers to explore Mark and Abigail’s troubled marriage without the unavoidable real-life history that would have accompanied Affleck and Garner.
Washington told Entertainment Weekly that she was particularly interested in portraying a marriage with a genuinely difficult dynamic rather than simply functioning as a supporting character around the movie’s central crisis.
That distinction matters because Animals is more than a kidnapping thriller.
What is ‘Animals’ about?
According to Netflix’s official description, Animals follows Los Angeles mayoral candidate Mark Kimball and his wife after their son is kidnapped.
As the couple attempts to raise the ransom, they are forced into choices that threaten to expose secrets and potentially tear their lives apart.
The kidnapping creates the immediate crisis, but the marriage between Mark and Abigail becomes the emotional centre of the story.
Affleck has described marriage itself as one of the film’s central ideas.
“How do you maintain a relationship?” he said. “What does a marriage really require of us? How well can we know one another?”
Those questions become especially important as the couple faces pressure from multiple directions.
The kidnapping threatens their family. Mark’s political ambitions are also placed under pressure. At the same time, the crisis forces the couple to confront secrets, trust and the strength of their relationship.
Netflix’s recent trailer coverage similarly describes the film as a story involving marriage, identity, moral choices and the difference between the public image people create and who they become when that image falls away.
‘Animals’ key production details
| Detail | Information |
| Film | Animals |
| Director | Ben Affleck |
| Lead | Ben Affleck as Mark Kimball |
| Abigail | Kerry Washington |
| Original Mark casting | Matt Damon |
| Original Abigail consideration | Jennifer Garner |
| Writers | Ben Affleck, Connor McIntyre and Billy Ray |
| Production | Artists Equity |
| Release | October 9, 2026 |
| Release format | Select theaters and Netflix |
| Genre | Thriller |
The film went through several major changes
The Garner revelation is just one chapter in the unusual production journey of Animals.
The movie was initially developed with Damon playing Mark while Affleck directed. The arrangement made sense given their longtime friendship and previous collaboration on Air.
Then the project was halted after Affleck learned about Highest 2 Lowest and its similar kidnapping-centered premise.
When Animals was revived, Damon’s commitment to Nolan’s The Odyssey meant Affleck took over the role of Mark himself.
That created the next major casting question: who would play Abigail?
Garner ultimately decided that working opposite her former husband in a story about a marriage in crisis would bring too much baggage.
Washington then stepped into the role.
The final cast includes Affleck and Washington alongside Gillian Anderson, Steven Yeun, Adriana Paz, Ray Fisher, Luis Gerardo Méndez, Matt Gerald and other ensemble players. Netflix’s official film information lists Washington, Anderson and Affleck among the principal cast.
Why the marriage matters so much to the thriller
Affleck’s comments reveal how important the relationship between Mark and Abigail is to Animals.
The kidnapping is the event that sets everything in motion, but the film also asks how much two people can truly know about one another when their carefully constructed lives begin to fall apart.
Mark is not simply dealing with a family emergency. His political ambitions are also threatened, while the crisis forces both characters to make difficult moral decisions.
Affleck has described the movie as an exploration of moral ambiguity. The story does not simply present the kidnapping as a straightforward rescue mission. Instead, the characters are pushed to consider how far they will go and what they are willing to sacrifice.
Netflix’s official material similarly emphasizes that the crisis threatens both the Kimballs’ family and the carefully constructed life Mark has built as a political candidate.
That combination gives Animals a broader dramatic foundation than its kidnapping premise alone.
When does ‘Animals’ come out?
Animals is scheduled to arrive in select theaters and on Netflix on October 9, 2026.
Netflix’s official Tudum coverage confirms the October 9 release date, while the Netflix film page identifies the movie as a 2026 thriller starring Affleck, Washington and Anderson.
The movie is directed by Affleck and represents another collaboration between Affleck and Damon through Artists Equity, even though Damon does not appear in the finished film.
By the time Animals reaches audiences, its final cast will reflect several decisions that happened long before its release: Damon was replaced by Affleck as Mark, Garner’s potential casting as Abigail gave way to Washington, and the project itself was temporarily halted after another kidnapping movie emerged.
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Conclusion
Jennifer Garner’s near-casting in Animals adds an unexpected chapter to the film’s complicated journey to the screen.
Affleck initially believed Garner would be “amazing” as Abigail, and having both parents involved in the production could potentially have helped them spend more time with their children. But once Damon became unavailable and Affleck took over as Mark, the possibility of Affleck and Garner portraying a married couple in crisis became very different.
Garner’s warning about the baggage they would bring to the fictional marriage ultimately changed the plan.
Affleck has made clear that the decision was not about hostility between the former couple. He described Garner as “fabulous,” said he was “profoundly grateful” for their relationship and expressed a desire to work with her professionally.
Instead, the filmmakers chose Kerry Washington, allowing Animals to focus on the complicated marriage, family crisis, political pressure and moral choices at the heart of the story.
For a film built around the question of how well two people can truly know each other, the casting journey behind Animals ended up raising a surprisingly similar question about what happens when real history follows actors onto the screen.
Source & Research Disclaimer
This article has been prepared based on thorough research of the sources provided with the original material, including statements and information attributed to Entertainment Weekly, Netflix Tudum, Netflix’s official Animals film page and Universal Pictures’ official The Odyssey page. The article reflects the information available from those provided sources and does not imply independent verification beyond the material supplied.
Sources
- Entertainment Weekly — Ben Affleck gets candid on the making and recasting of Animals
- Netflix Tudum — Animals: Release Date, Photos, Plot and Cast
- Netflix Tudum — Animals trailer and story details
- Netflix — Animals official film page
- Universal Pictures — The Odyssey official page
Featured Image Credit: Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 2.0
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