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Jennifer Garner<\/a> made a very intentional decision once she became a mom: No film or TV work that would keep her away from her kids for too long. And even as her children \u2014 Violet, 20, Seraphina, 17, and Samuel, 13 \u2014 grow older, she’s sticking to that plan, with the help of former husband Ben Affleck<\/a>, whom she calls an “incredible co-parent.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Their teamwork was key when the TV adaptation The Five Star Weekend<\/em><\/a>, based on Elin Hilderbrand<\/a>‘s best-selling novel, came on her radar.<\/p>\n “When it was offered to me, it was supposed to shoot, I think, in Nova Scotia,” Garner tells Entertainment Weekly<\/em>. “I said, ‘I would love to do it, but like everything, I really only work in L.A. I have three teenagers, and I can’t leave for four months. It’s just not worth it to me.'”<\/p>\n Although she loved the book \u2014 and the script by showrunner and creator Bekah Brunstetter \u2014 the star told herself to forget about it. Eventually the producers came back with a plan for The Five Star Weekend <\/em>to shoot in Los Angeles. Mostly. One month would take place in Nantucket, which Garner says was doable in part because of Affleck.<\/p>\n “They can stay with their dad,” says Garner, who met The Rip<\/em><\/a> <\/em>star Affleck on the set of war drama Pearl Harbor <\/em>in 2000 and married him in 2005; the couple separated in 2015 and finalized their divorce in 2018. “He’s wonderful. He takes care of them. He’s a great partner in that way. And so that’s very freeing.”<\/p>\n Garner \u2014 who rose to fame as the lead of the ABC series Alias<\/em><\/a> and starring in films Daredevil<\/em><\/a> (alongside Affleck), 13 Going on 30<\/em><\/a>, and Juno<\/em><\/a> \u2014 <\/em>says she doesn’t regret for a moment prioritizing her family when her children were younger.\u00a0<\/p>\n “There is a time in your life where you just do get caught up in all of that,” says the star. “And that’s okay. Nothing is forever. That’s a season. And it’s a beautiful thing. And I wouldn’t trade a minute of it. But I feel like my kids are a little bigger 1784217568. Their dad has become this incredible co-parent.”<\/p>\n She continues: “When they were younger, I wouldn’t have done a couple of weeks away without taking them with me. Now they’re [older]. You can’t really do that anymore. But I can [go off solo and film because of the co-parenting relationship].”<\/p>\n Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with\u00a0our\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>EW Dispatch newsletter<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The Five Star Weekend<\/em><\/a> centers on Hollis Shaw (Garner), a grieving widow who invites her best friends from different stages of her life \u2014 childhood “sis” Tatum (Chlo\u00eb Sevigny<\/a>), college roommate Dru-Ann (Regina Hall<\/a>), mom group friend Brooke (D’Arcy Carden<\/a>), and social media friend Gigi (Gemma Chan<\/a>) \u2014 to her Nantucket house for a weekend to distract her from her pain.<\/p>\n “They were the perfect scene partners for that, and the perfect friends for it,” says Garner of her costars. “They really held me through that and through all we did with each other.”<\/p>\n