Many fans might want to be friends with Jennifer Garner, who’s often known for her ‘girl next door’ roles in films like ‘13 Going on 30,’ but this girl next door has some serious martial arts chops in addition to her acting ones.
Jennifer Garner knows martial arts. The actress studied mixed martial arts for her 2018 film, ‘Peppermint,’ and learned taekwondo for many of the fight scenes when filming the show, ‘Alias.’
Watch out, Conor McGregor – there’s a new MMA fighter on the rise. In addition to her martial arts prowess, Jennifer Garnder has amassed many impressive talents and facts during her lifetime.
Marital Arts
Jennifer Garner learned martial arts for her leading role in the 2018 action movie, ‘Peppermint.’ Although Jennifer Garner’s performance was praised by critics, the film overall was not and received a critical average of 12% on the film review website Rotten Tomatoes.
However, the audience score was a much higher 71%, so clearly audiences felt differently than critics. Either way, Garner’s performance was praised, and that may be because of the massive amount of work and training that went into her role.
Jennifer Garner learned mixed martial arts for her role as a mother seeking revenge for the tragic drive-by murder of her husband and daughter. The film’s director, Pierre Morel, said of Jennifer Garner’s dedication to her training, “She was dead-on, ready to go for it. The fact that everything is done by the actor is key.”
Jennifer Garner also said of her role that, “I’ve been training for a while on this … I did (mixed martial arts) MMA skills, gun skills, knife skills. It was the connection to the physical that made me kind of understand her fight for her daughter.”
In addition to learning mixed martial arts for her role in ‘Peppermint,’ Jennifer Garner also learned taekwondo for her role in the TV series ‘Alias.’
Although she learned taekwondo for the role of a super-skilled double-agent, Jennifer Garner also knew when to hand over the reins to a trained professional. She has a close friendship with her stunt double, Shauna Duggins, who has also worked on Netflix’s show about women’s wrestling, ‘GLOW.’
Although she does try to be involved in the on-set action, one show took it too far. Jennifer Garner was almost injured while filming the movie ‘Daredevil.’ She became tangled in wires while filming a stunt and was unable to move.
That time was just a close call for Jennifer Garner, but while filming the 2005 film ‘Elektra,’ she did get injured on set. She got a nasty slice across her knuckles while shooting a fight scene.
Fun Facts
Jennifer Garner is a multi-talented woman and is known for much more than her martial arts prowess. Here are some interesting facts that you may not know about the famous actress.
She is also a talented saxophone player and was even in her high school’s marching band – and she can prove it, too! The ‘Daredevil’ actress took to Instagram for her friend, ‘Big Little Lies’ actress Reese Witherspoon’s birthday to play her a sweet saxophone tune.
In the post, she claims band geeks are the best, and we’re inclined to agree. Jennifer Garner may be a famous actress now, but growing up, she called her instrument ‘Sally the Sexy Saxophone,’ according to an interview with Vanity Fair.
Jennifer Garner is a talented cook as well. She often posts her recipes on her social media pages and once said in an interview with Oprah.com that “I read cookbooks like they’re novels. I take them to bed at night. I rediscover one in my collection, and I pore over it.”
If you want to cook like Jennifer Garner, you should check out Ina Garten’s cookbook, ‘The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook,’ as the actress claimed that it was one of her personal favorites.
In addition to her love of cooking, Jennifer Garner is a bookworm. Other books she loves include the Pulitzer Prize-winning play ‘Crimes of the Heart’ by Beth Henley and ‘Possession’ by A.S. Bryant.
She thanks books for getting her through a difficult time in her life when she was unemployed, saying she used to tell herself, “Instead of panicking, go read. You won’t have another chance in your whole life to dive into books.”
Clearly, Jennifer Garner is a renaissance woman. In addition to her professional skills as an actress, she has a ton of other unique interests and skills – impressive!