American actress, producer and philanthropist Jennifer Garner has been successful since a young age. Many people in Hollywood choose not to go to college – did Garner?
Jennifer Garner did attend college. She went to Denison University after graduating from George Washington High School. The actress began college majoring in Chemistry but later switched to drama major after discovering her passion for acting. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theater performance in 1994 and went on to pursue a career in Hollywood.
Read more below about Garner’s educational qualifications, and how she may have utilized them later in her career.
Garner’s Life Growing Up
Jennifer Garner was born in Houston, Texas to chemical engineer William John Garner and mother Patricia Ann English.
Her mother taught at a college nearby in Virginia, where Garner moved to at the age of 3, and her educational influence may have shaped Garner’s later decisions.
Garner’s family was very religious, and she attended Church often. She and her siblings were often restricted from doing secular, or modern things such as painting their nails and wearing makeup.
She told to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette that she was raised “practically Amish.”
After graduating from George Washington High School, she attended a liberal arts college, Denison University, for 4 years to obtain a drama degree.
In college, she participated in various clubs and societies related to acting.
Garner told David Tennant on a podcast that during summer, she would help organize and act in productions for summer stock theater.
She assisted from the start to finish; building the set, selling the tickets, acting in the production, and cleaning up the set.
Garner joined the Pi Beta Phi sorority, and in fall season, she studied at the National Theater Institute at Eugene O’Neill Theater Center.
After 4 years, she graduated from Denison University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theater performance.
Life After College
After college, Garner was immediately drawn to the film industry, moving to New York to fulfill her dreams.
The actress told Independent that she worked as a theater understudy for near minimum wage for a year before her first performance.
Garner went on to play various roles in a number of television series and films, such as a shopkeeper in the miniseries Dead Man’s Walk, while simultaneously working as a hostess for a stable income.
She gradually rose to fame, starring alongside prominent actors such as Ashton Kutcher in movies like Dude, Where’s My Car?
Finally, she got her big break in ABC’s hit spy thriller Alias, and from here onwards starred in many blockbuster movies.
The talented actress has won several awards, including a Golden Globe award for her feature in the 2002 TV series Alias, and being nominated for 4 primetime Emmy Awards.
She has starred in major box office hits such as the movie 13 Going On 30, the 2007 film Juno, and the superhero movie Daredevil.
13 Going on 30 grossed at over $96 million, and she was nominated for the MTV Movie Awards and the Teen Choice awards for her role.
She is also a theater star, perhaps influenced by her passion for it in college. Garner starred in several Broadway shows between 2007-2008.
The actress married famous actor Ben Affleck in 2005, who has won three Golden Globe Awards and two Academy Awards among other achievements.
The pair were amicably divorced in 2018, and raise their three daughters in joint custody.
Garner is a philanthropist, and a passionate ambassador for the charitable organization Save The Children, which focuses on bettering the life of children in the United Kingdom through education and access to resources.
It is clear that education is an important element in Garner’s life, exhibited not only from her college degree but from her campaigning to help the disadvantaged youth with their own education.