How Jennifer Garner reinvented herself through Instagram
Gaining popularity and a wide fan base overnight after her lead debut as Sydney Bristow the action television series Alias in 2001, Jennifer Garner had already run the tutorial to be a kickass.
Now, ages down the line, so much has happened in the life of the 46-year-old dimpled actress, but you wouldn't find it reflected in her interviews and public appearances.
In fact, her coming onto social media, especially Instagram has been the best thing for her fans and very recently she was crowned the reigning queen of this particular social media.
Ever since she joined Instagram on September 1, 2017, she has used the platform to unleash her creative and quirky side.
Her first post was that for her friends and fans to follow her because "isn't that how it works," right? And yup, she has 1.5 million followers with 131 posts.
Her second post came only a few days later, and had the actress donning the armor of an ambassador of Save the Children foundation. It was a call to help children hit by Hurricane Harvey. Her first two posts were evident enough to show us that we were dealing with a passionate and creative person, who wasn't afraid to call a spade a spade.
Then came her first viral video on September 14 of the same year. A throwback Thursday video of the time she had dental anesthesia done with laughing gas and novocaine, and where she is seen tearing in laughter over Hamilton, when in fact she was telling someone on the phone about a tragic part in the musical.
Hamilton is the musical on Philip Hamilton, who dies after a duel. Garner tells on the phone, “they” (the dental technicians?) put on “the sad part” of the musical and Jen started crying and couldn’t stop. “It was so beautiful,” she repeats several times, cry-laughing, “listen to the song!”
“That time I had dental anesthesia…laughing gas + novocaine + Hamilton = you’re welcome,” Garner captioned the hilarious post.
Her Instagram reached the zenith of its popularity and that wasn't all. From fierce kickboxing videos to her sharing a personal poem penned at the toothless age of 7.5 years, Jennifer Garner isn't afraid to show her dorky side to the world, especially in motion boomerangs and timelapse videos.
Scrolling through her account to pick up the funniest post of all is a real challenge. So here are a few unavoidable mentions in no particular order.
Her January 23, 2018 post where the actress tried to show off her fresh produce by eating a pepper grown in her land -- well, she immediately regretted. She ends up drinking water from the hose and writhe and clap in tears from the hotness of the pepper.
Then on Valentines Day when everyone was out posting about love, the mother-of-three posted another hilarious video, this time regarding a mouth guard. The actress was struggling while waiting for her mouth guard mold to set.
But very next day, she wished her dog a happy Galentine's Day.
In the wake of her break up from Ben Affleck after 10 years of marriage, there have been many rumors and speculations regarding her love life.
But the Sydney Bristow in her has not bothered to bat an eye on savage headlines. She continues to post hilarious videos on Instagram as though world is her oyster and she is having the last laugh.
“It is a part of what you do, and truly, you recognize, I am famously used to it as a result of it is what I did on Alias and it turned out that I like to begin my day like that. And I like to begin my day that early, so fortunately it matches me,” she said in an interview to E!
We don't disagree for identifying herself on the part she played but like the girl-next-door image she had maintained for 15 long years, she has been mixing it all on her social media.
The private lives of celebrities aren't very private so celebs are often accused of sharing too much or too little. But for the '13 Going on 30' actress, it is perfect.
She features her mom-job like a boss without exposing her children to social media much but ample number of posts are showered on her dog, Birdie. She even reads her a book and gives it a makeover with glasses. Spreading some girl-love she took to Instagram and a saxophone to render a musical birthday to actress Reese Witherspoon.
On March 22 she dug out her full band uniform featuring feather hats and white gloves to wish her longtime pal a happy 42nd birthday. She demonstrated a march and played a soulful rendition of Happy Birthday song concluding with “any many more” line and exiting in a perfect march again.
"Hey, @reesewitherspoon! I don’t know why you’re on my mind today…..🎷🎁🎈🎈❤❤❤,” she jokingly captioned the post with the hashtag #happybirthdayfriend.
So by now it has been established that if you don't follow Jennifer Garner or stalk her hilarious videos including a recent one of her cooking for her kids with recipes you can pronounce to looking for what is in her bag, then chances are you aren't getting a much-needed dose of celebrity humor.
If you think she acts up for it, well, remember when she turned into a viral meme during the Oscars? A video emerged of the actor clapping with the rest of the audience at the 90th Academy Awards, when her face changed and her hands dropped, prompting users to try and work out what she was thinking.
To help the viewers guess to what she was thinking, she took to Instagram Stories and gave her own option as to what it could be; Number one read: “Congrats to Shape of Water. Maybe I should date a fish,” in reference to Guillermo del Toro’s film which took home the Best Picture award.
Option number two was: "Hey, Jimmy Kimmel, what’s in your wallet? Wait, where is my wallet?” This alluded to the catchphrase from her Capital One Venture card adverts.
Garner's final suggestion was: “Can’t wait to work with Lena Dunham. Wait, did I sign a nudity waiver?”
As of now, she is yet to reach the astronomical following enjoyed by other Insta stars, but as she dishes out quirky and everyday nuggets of her life she has become one of the most relatable celebrities on Instagram.
The 'Elektra' star became a mother first to Violet in 2005, then Seraphina in 2009 and Samuel in 2012 with her ex husband Ben Affleck. Though the couple filed for divorce, they have become an epitome of co-parenting and are raising kids in the most super-heroic way.
Though there were reports that Jennifer Garner was not always happy and 2015 was her "year of the wine", ever since she took to Instagram on September 2017, she has made our year the kind we get wished on birthdays- filled with laughter and fun.