Jennifer Garner opens up about being ‘fully cringe’ in front of her children

Jennifer Garner has revealed that her three children, Violet, 20, Seraphina, 17, and Samuel, 13, whom she shares with ex-husband Ben Affleck, often find her “cringe-worthy.”

The actress, 53, appeared on The Jennifer Hudson Show on Thursday, Feb. 19 to discuss the second season of her Apple TV+ series The Last Thing He Told Me. 

During the conversation, Garner joked that her kids rarely award her “cool points.”

“You’re providing my cool points today!” Garner told host Jennifer Hudson, 44. “My kids think I’m fully cringe. I am only embarrassing.”

Garner explained that when she asked her children if they were going to watch the new season, their response was indifferent.

“‘Do you need us to?’ Kids don’t want to see their parents cry or have romantic scenes. We’re just embarrassing.”

Hudson chimed in: “We don’t get no cool points for that.” Despite the teasing, Garner said she manages to earn some points through her co-stars. 

She praised her Last Thing He Told Me costar Angourie Rice, 25, as well as Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, 55, who stars as Jaime Lannister in Game of Thrones, a show her son Samuel is currently obsessed with. 

“Thank you,” she told Coster-Waldau. “And they all love Aunt Judy,” referring to her longtime friend and former 13 Going on 30 co-star Judy Greer.

Garner also opened up last month about her evolving parenting style as her children grow into teenagers. In an interview with Marie Claire UK, she described her kids as “so cool” and emphasized the importance of giving them space: “It’s more about parenting with a button on my mouth. You have to let them grow up and make their choices. You don’t get to control it.”

The Yes Day actress added that she’s “so proud” of her children for “how they walk through the world, and proud of them for trying hard.”