JENNIFER GARNER...EVERYTHING THAT'S FUN TO KNOW - PART 3
23 APRIL 2004. SOURCE: TEEN HOLLYWOOD

Another slice of Jen's chat with Teen Hollywood:

Teen Hollywood: Who were your favourite musicians at 13 and now?

Jennifer: I'm always the disaster of the group when it comes to this. I always feel like ask Mark Ruffalo (her co-star who plays Matt). He's always like, "Yeah, I love The Stingers." I'm like who the hell are the Stingers? When I was 13, I was pretty much top 40. I have to say, I didn't pay a lot of attention. I just listened to whatever. I remember taping a couple of songs off the radio, You're My Inspiration by Chicago. That kind of thing. And now, I still really don't care that much but I have music playing all the time at home which is a first for me. Whatever. Everything from Ani DiFranco to Dave Matthews to Jack Johnson and Norah Jones.

Teen Hollywood: Do you approach a comedy scene similarly to an action scene?

Jennifer: Yeah. You have to commit to it. You can't hide in an action scene. You can't think, "Oh, I'll halfway do this." And you can't hide in a comedy scene either. You have to give in to the scene and commit.

Teen Hollywood: How difficult were the dance sequences in 13 GOING ON 30?

Jennifer: They were just fun. I mean, they were pure joy and fun. I grew up doing musicals and so to me, it was the perfect marriage of what I had grown up loving and doing and what I do now. And there were huge cranes and cameras and great backup dancers that were full of energy. Mark (Ruffalo) was sure that he was gonna die on the spot when we were rehearsing. He took a lot of pep talks but he so got it and so nailed it, he was groovin'. So we just had a blast.

Teen Hollywood: At what age did you start dance?

Jennifer: Three. I mean, just like a little kid in a ballet class. It's not like my parents sent me to New York City and said, "Go take class." They just stuck me in class. I also took jazz but I was always a disaster at jazz. I've never had rhythm.

Teen Hollywood: Did you want to be a classical ballerina?

Jennifer: No. To become a classical ballerina, you have to move to New York when you're 12 or 11 and that becomes your life. I just wanted to be good in my company in Charleston and I wanted it to always be part of my life.

Teen Hollywood: Did you once look more at a musical career?

Jennifer: Musicals were just what I did. They were what was available to me in my home town. we had a great - and still have a really great, strong community theatre. This is the Charleston Light Opera Guild in Charleston, West Virginia. And I was beyond involved. I was a ballet dancer and that kind of bled into musical theatre and I was constantly in rehearsal for one thing or another. You would've thought that I was trying to be a professional in Charleston but I just loved it so much and I was happy to be backstage. I was happy to have a role of any size or no size at all. And I still feel that way. TO BE CONTINUED / BACK TO THE TOP