Birthdate: April 17, 1972
Birthplace: Houston, Texas

She has a smile that would make the girl-next-door jealous and has the martial arts skills to kick the butt of any bad guy who gets in her way. Read on to find out how Jennifer Garner made it to the big time!

Jennifer Garner - Before Fame

Far from the bright lights of Hollywood, Jennifer Garner grew up in Charleston, West Virginia with her parents and two sisters. Their home was conservative and the sisters were not allowed to were earrings or makeup. At a young age, Jennifer had dreams of becoming a ballerina and sometimes trained for 6 hours per day. This desire to perform eventually developed into a passion for acting and after graduating from high school, Jen packed up and headed off to Denison College in Granville, Ohio where she eventually changed her major from chemistry to drama.

Jennifer Garner - The Actress

After college, Jen moved to New York where she lived on a woman's couch and scored an understudy role on Broadway. When she moved to LA, she earned small roles on popular TV shows like Spin City, Law & Order, Felicity and Time of Your Life with Jennifer Love Hewitt. In 2000, Jen was offered an audition for Alias and after preparing with martial arts classes, she nabbed the role of CIA agent Sydney Bristow. Hollywood was taking notice of the small-town girl and in 2002, Jen scored a Golden Globe for best performance by an actress in a drama series. Next up, she landed parts opposite Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett in Pearl Harbor, Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can and played Ashton Kutcher's girlfriend in Dude, Where's My Car? Jen met up again with Ben Affleck in Daredevil, was hilarious in 13 Going on 30 and in 2005, released Elektra.

Jennifer Garner - Love Life

Jen is no stranger to the high-profile love-life that comes with being in the public eye. In 2000, she married her Felicity co-star Scott Foley, but due to the pressures of Hollywood, they split in 2003. Next up was Jen's Alias co-star Michael Vartan, whom she secretly dated until they split in early 2004. She has been dating Ben Affleck since July 2004, and many people predict that these two will tie the knot. He spent Christmas 2004 with her family in West Virginia and was by her side when she was admitted to the hospital after suffering nerve damage from performing stunts.

Jennifer Garner - Did U Know?

Jennifer is reportedly paid $3 million per film and $150,000 per episode of Alias.

She loves Martha Stewart so much she named her dog after her.

Jen plays saxophone and piano.

She indulges in cheese and crackers, snickers bars and pasta.

In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, cooking and hiking.

Jen's ears still aren't pierced and she likes to wear jeans, sweaters and Nike's.

She can speak a little Spanish.

Jen did 95% of the stunts in Daredevil.

She has a yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do.

Jennifer Garner Says...

"Well, my top priority is maintaining health, mental and physical health..."
- Jennifer Garner

"For a month we sat on the floor and ate off a box because it was all we had."
- Jennifer Garner on how she and her roommate ate in the first apartment

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