Jennifer Garner Roasts ‘Rom-Com Ruffalo,’ Drops Bombshell About ‘13 Going On 30’
Jennifer Garner playfully roasted Mark Ruffalo during the latter's Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony.
Garner, 51, and Ruffalo, 56, reunited at an event for the latter Thursday. The two starred in the hit 2004 rom-com "13 Going on 30" and have since become friends.
While Garner delivered her speech for Ruffalo's milestone, she poked fun at the latter. According to her, she was called at the last minute to do the speech after the actor's "We Don't Live Here Anymore" co-star Laura Dern couldn't make it due to COVID-19.
"Why wasn't I asked to do this in the first place?" Garner jokingly said, per Entertainment Tonight.
"I kicked off the Mark Ruffalo rom-com era!" she added, noting that "it was bookended 20 years later with [their 2022 Netflix film] 'The Adam Project.'"
"I mean, it writes itself," Garner quipped before telling the crowd, "Honestly, I don't know what you would've done without me. Thank God I showed up. I have got to be here to honor and elucidate rom-com Ruffalo."
Garner went on to share how lucky they were to star in a film in which kids dressed up for Halloween. She wanted to stress how the movie remained special to many people.
The "Yes Day!" star acknowledged Ruffalo's rom-com projects with other female celebrities and jokingly said she wondered if they also enjoyed his "anxiety" as much as she did.
"I wonder if my colleagues -- Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth [Paltrow], Keira Knightley -- I wonder if they would agree that Mark owes this rom-com success to the scruffy hair, the untucked cute button down, both of which became the norm for cute guys everywhere for the next 20 years," Garner continued.
However, Garner also shared that Ruffalo tried to drop out of their film. Her revelation prompted Ruffalo to laugh as she recounted what happened that nearly led him to leave the classic movie.
"I wonder if he tried to drop out of their films like he did out of ours after the first rehearsal of the 'Thriller' dance, where Mark went from kind of shocked that we actually had to do this, to antsy, to a deathly quiet, to, 'Bro, this is not for me,'" Garner said.
"There's a through line from beloved Matty in '13 Going on 30' to Duncan in 'Poor Things.' A common thread of anxiety, yes, of clarity of purpose, of understanding of [the] story, of standing up for your characters, being a person of character, showing up for your co-stars, bringing your family with you into every moment of every scene, and showing up with joy."
Garner wrapped up her speech by expressing how much she loved her co-star after they worked together. She also congratulated him.
"To work with you, Mark, is to love you. I don't care what anyone says," Garner said. "Congratulations, Mark. We love you."
