Cordial coparents for the win! Sheryl Lee Ralph and Jennifer Garner share a special bond following their respective divorces.
“We have so many things in common. With all the celebrity and all of that, I feel like I have a very normal life, and I think you have that similar sort of vibe. And we love our kids,” the Abbott Elementary star, 66, gushed to Garner, 50, during their Variety “Actors on Actors” interview, which was published on Saturday, June 10. “And both of us having gone through divorce. You did something that I did as well — maintain a healthy relationship with my ex for the health and well-being of my children.”
She added: “With the spotlight on us all the time, sometimes that can be difficult, but when I look at my kids, when I see you and your kids, I was like, ‘Girl, we did that.’”
Ralph shares son Etienne, 31, and daughter Ivy-Victoria, 28, with ex-husband Eric Maurice, whom she was married to between 1990 and 2001. The 13 Going on 30 actress, for her part, and Ben Affleck tied the knot in 2005 before ultimately separating in 2015. After their split, they have remained amicable coparents to children Violet, 17, Seraphina, 14, and Samuel, 11.
“Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm,” Garner replied to the Broadway legend’s compliment, offering her a fist bump. “We’re doing it! We do have so many similarities.”
The West Virginia native — who also gushed about the “gift” of the “mess of parenting” during the Variety sit-down — has long been candid about keeping things cordial with Affleck, 50, for the sake of their kids.
“We are definitely a modern family,” the Juno actress told Today in August 2016. “We’re doing really well. … He and I are great friends. It has to be [about being a team]. You don’t have a choice.”
The Tender Bar star later moved on with former fiancée Jennifer Lopez, whom he married in 2022, before the two women formed a special bond.
“Over the past year or two, they’ve definitely become close and have gotten to know each other much better,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly last month of the “Jenny From the Block” songstress, 53, and the Alias alum. “Both of them are incredible mothers and always put their children’s needs first. Garner respects that Lopez treats her and Ben’s kids like her own and she has every intention of doing the same.”
Garner — who is currently dating John Miller — even brought Seraphina and her step-sibling Emme to Disneyland over Memorial Day Weekend. The trio were spotted enjoying various amusement park rides.
The Marry Me actress — who shares twins Emme and Max, both 15, with ex-husband Marc Anthony — has also praised Garner as a mother.
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“[She’s] an amazing coparent, and they work really well together,” Lopez gushed to Vogue in her December 2022 profile. “What I hope to cultivate with our family is that his kids have a new ally in me and my kids have a new ally in him, someone who really loves and cares about them but can have a different perspective and help me see things that I can’t see with my kids because I’m so emotionally tied up.”
