Jennifer Anne Garner was born on April 17, 1972 in Houston, Texas to Bill & Pat Garner. Bill is a retired chemical engineer and Pat is a retired college English teacher. Her parents were always supportive of Jennifer and helped her to pursue her dreams. Raised in Charleston, West Virginia, Garner began appearing in television and film in the mid-1990s. While growing up Jennifer studied ballet for six hours a day which helped teach her discipline that would help her later in life. Jennifer graduated from George Washington High School in the class of 1990 and went on to attend Dennison University. She started college majoring in Chemistry. She later changed her major to drama when she realized that her passion for the stage outweighed her love of science. After graduating from Dennison in 1994 she headed to New York City to pursue her career.
Jen scored her first television role as Melissa Gilbert's daughter on the miniseries "Zoya" based on Danielle Steel's book. The next few roles that Jennifer received were in two Hallmark Hall of Fame fims, "Harvest of Fire" and "Rose Hill". Jennifer did a few other feature films before landing her first role on a television series, "Significant Others". Also featured in the ABC miniseries "Larry McMurtry's Dead Man's Walk" (1996), Garner made her big screen debut in 1997, with roles in Agnieszka Holland's adaptation of the Henry James classic "Washington Square" as well as the modern NYC tale "Deconstructing Harry" and the comical "Mister Magoo". The recurring role that got Garner some increased notice and also landed her a husband (she and Foley married in 2000), was portrayal of Hanna, the musician girlfriend of laid-back resident advisor Noel (Scott Foley).
Though "Significant Others" didn't work out, Garner was eager to try another series, and was cast opposite popular Jennifer Love Hewitt in "The Time of Your Life" but it was out of time by mid-2000 due to unexpectedly low ratings.In 2000, Garner returned to film with a fun supporting role as the increasingly fed-up girlfriend of Ashton Kutcher's lame-brained hero in the goofy comedy "Dude, Where's My Car?". The following year she had the third female lead in the Michael Bay actioner "Pearl Harbor", playing a thoughtful military nurse stationed at the embattled site, doing her best with a disappointingly underdeveloped role.
2001 saw Garner get back on the TV series horse, starring as a graduate student with a secret life as a spy in the ABC adventure "Alias." In 2002, she earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in A Drama Series for her role in "Alias" and expanded into feature films: She had a brief but memorable turn as a beautiful fashion model with an intriguing sideline in director Steven Spielberg's "Catch Me If You Can" (2002), then followed up in 2003 with the pivotal role of the martial artist and assassin Elektra, the enemy and lover of the Marvel Comics superhero "Daredevil" (Ben Affleck). Promising a smooth transition from small-screen superstar to A-list actress, Garner next signed on to star in "13 Going on 30" (lensed 2003), a sort of girl power version of "Big" in which she plays the thirty-year-old transformation of an awkward teenage girl.
Named one of People Magazine's 'Breakthrough Stars of 2001'.
Named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People by People Magazine - May 2002.
Named the #1 sexiest woman of 2001 by MAXIM men's magazine.
