Mark Ruffalo Confirms What We Suspected About His Reunion With Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo gave us the gift of Matty and Jenna in the 2000s classic "13 Going on 30." The 2004 fantasy rom-com, a flick about a teenager whose wish to be a grown woman turned true on her 13th birthday, was immediately a hit. When it opened on April 23, 2004, "13 Going on 30" racked up $22 million at the box office, closing the day in a strong second place, just $1 million behind Denzel Washington's "Man on Fire," according to The Hollywood Reporter (via IMDb).
Garner and Ruffalo's chemistry onscreen was unmissable, and things weren't much different behind the scenes. In 2019, Ruffalo told ET that working on "13 Going on 30" with Garner was a blast. "We had the sweetest time. [Jennifer] was a big star then but I was kind of just starting out. She was just so lovely," he said of Garner, who was starring in J.J. Abrams' ABC series "Alias" then.
Despite their connection, Garner and Ruffalo lost touch after production was over — when his former co-star began dating Ben Affleck, he said on Andy Cohen's "Watch What Happens Live" in 2014 (via Us Weekly). "We had a great time together, and I think we would [have kept in touch], but then Ben came on the scene and that was the end of that," Ruffalo told Cohen. Garner and Affleck are no longer a couple, and Ruffalo and Garner have reunited on "The Adam Project". Ruffalo couldn't be more thrilled.
Mark Ruffalo feels right at home with Jennifer Garner
Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Garner discovered they would work on their second film together in November 2020, when they were tapped to star in Shawn Levy's sci-fi Netflix film "The Adam Project," according to The Hollywood Reporter. The experience quickly showed they still had a deep connection. "It was like we picked up where we left off," Ruffalo told People on February 28. Garner agreed with Ruffalo. "I know he was excited to be with me and I was too. We had a great time," she added.
In "The Adam Project," Garner and Ruffalo play a married couple whose son grows up to be a time-traveling pilot, played by Ryan Reynolds, a plot Ruffalo paralleled to his "13 Going on 30" role. "It was like Jenna and Matty went off and had Ryan Reynolds as a kid, and no one can understand how he got so tall," Ruffalo joked with People.
In March 2021, Garner opened up about her experience co-starring with Ruffalo nearly two decades later. "We just had this instant comfort and obviously there's just such a connection and a warmth," she said on "Good Morning America," adding, "It was actually a really beautiful experience to revisit that relationship." Ruffalo and Garner have been using social media to promote their new film — and fans are nostalgic. "Our forever Matt and Jenna again together," one fan wrote on Garner's Instagram post featuring Ruffalo on February 28.