Tom Schirmacher for Allure
Garner opens up raising the children she shares with Ben Affleck, why she avoids any and all celebrity news and loving her "solo life."
Jennifer Garner is known for being one of the nicest celebrities in Hollywood -- something reinforced in her new Allure profile -- but that image comes with its downside as well.
Speaking with the publication for a new cover story, the 51-year-old actress shared her public persona makes it a little more difficult to have a bad day.
"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," Garner told the magazine. "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," she added. "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."
Garner did set ground rules for the interview, laying out what she would and wouldn't talk about -- telling the reporter that even doing that is "tricky for me because it doesn't come naturally." By the end of the interview, her "nice" image shone through again -- as she told the reporter to feel free to reach out to her if she needed any parenting advice down the line, something which is not typical of a celebrity profile.
Tom Schirmacher for Allure
During the interview, Garner also opened up about her three children, who she shares with ex-husband Ben Affleck: Violet, 17, Seraphina, 14 and Samuel, 11. She said that while their kids are fans of their father's films, they don't really enjoy watching hers.
"They don't mind watching their dad, but they kind of want me to be their mom," she explained. "They don't want to see me upset and women cry more in what we do. And they don't really want to see me in a romantic thing."
Speaking more generally about parenting, she added that she has "a lot of faith in my kids" as they get older. "I don't love every behavior all the time, always. It's gnarly growing up," she added.
And while everyone reading her latest profile clearly enjoys celebrity news, Garner herself is not a fan -- and has cut herself off from it entirely.
"I learned a while ago that I'm way too sensitive to what is written about me, my family. The only things I have on my phone are The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal," she said. "I can't even have CNN. I used to love the Huffington Post," she added, explaining she can't even enjoy them anymore because they also have celebrity reports.
Read the full profile -- in which she also exclaims "I really love my solo life" -- right here.
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