Jennifer Garner Says This '13 Going On 30' Scene Is A 'Favorite Memory'
By Kelly Coffey-Behrens on April 23, 2024 at 11:45 AM EDT
'13 Going On 30' is turning 20 years old and Jennifer Garner is taking a trip down memory lane, revealing one of her favorite memories filming with Mark Ruffalo.
In the film, the now 52-year-old portrays Jenna Rink, who has one wish on her 13th birthday - to be "thirty, flirty, and thriving." The romantic comedy is one of the most iconic films of all time, and 20 years later, fans are still looking to buy Razzles.
In honor of its 20th anniversary, Jennifer Garner is taking a look back and revealing one of her favorite memories of filming.
Jennifer Garner Celebrates The 20th Anniversary Of '13 Going On 30'
'13 Going On 30' was a "magical" time for Jennifer Garner, as she made lifelong friendships with her costars. In fact, her friendship with Mark Ruffalo and Judy Greer is so strong that Garner says she barely remembers that the film is how they first met.
“That's how deep we go,” the actress told PEOPLE.
When it was released in 2004, the film brought in $96.5 million at the box office. Garner says '13 Going On 30' wasn't "a huge movie," but it "was the biggest paycheck any of us had ever had, even though it was not crazy," she said of her and her co-stars Mark Ruffalo and Judy Greer.
“It was such a step up," the actress added. "We didn't know if it would be any good or not, but we were all so in it to win it.”
Jennifer Garner Recalls Filming With Mark Ruffalo
While the actress says that any scene she filmed with Rufflo or Greer is a favorite, "the night that Mark and I shot in Brooklyn, looking back at Manhattan, the Razzle night,” that scene "is a favorite memory" for Garner.
Christa Belle, who played young Jenna, also revealed her favorite scene from the film. "'13 Going on 30,' in my view, will forever live on as both a rom-com classic and a cinematic love letter to the power of manifestation,” she said. “The flash mob ‘Thriller’ dance scene will forever be my favorite.”
Of course, Jenna Rink is still one of the most popular Halloween costumes, something Belle says is an honor. “I feel honored to share Jenna Rink with the world and I hope people dress up as her forever," she told PEOPLE. "We are all Jenna Rink.”
Jennifer Garner Spills '13 Going On 30' Secret
Earlier this year, the 'Family Switch' star spoke at Ruffalo's Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony, revealing that her costar had almost quit the film. “I wonder if these esteemed ladies enjoyed Mark's anxiety as much as I did,” she said during her speech, referring to Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Keira Knightley, who have all shared on-screen romances with Ruffalo.
“I wonder if he tried to drop out of their films," she added. "Like he did out of ours after the first rehearsal of the 'Thriller' dance where Mark went from kind of shocked that we actually had to do this, to antsy, to deathly quiet, to 'Bro, this is not for me.’"
The two then recreated the iconic 'Thriller' scene, sending fans into a frenzy.
Jennifer Garner Takes A Walk Down Memory Lane
Everyone knows the iconic 'Thriller' scene from '13 Going On 30,' but three years ago, Jennifer Garner revealed that it almost didn't happen.
"We started to learn the dance. Our first rehearsal, I think it was Mark and Judy (Greer) and me, and Judy and I were both dancers growing up and poor Mark didn't know that," Garner told theSkimm at the time.
"And he came in and he hated the rehearsal process so much he almost dropped out," she added. Luckily for fans, Ruffalo stuck it out and now every time 'Thriller' comes on the radio, fans will always think of the 2004 rom-com.
Jennifer Garner Was Meant To Play Jenna Rink
Todd Garner, executive producer of '13 Going On 30,' said Jennifer Garner was always meant to play Jenna Rink. "Our first choice for Jenna Rink was always Jennifer Garner," he told Cosmopolitan. "But she was on the TV show 'Alias,' so we had to wait almost a year for her.
'13 Going On 30' screenwriter Josh Goldsmith, added, "It was such a brilliant casting of the character because, at the time, Jennifer was not nearly as big a star as she is now. She was in 'Alias' and a few movies, but she really was a fresh face and could play that innocence and that wide-eyed wonder and sweetness so well—probably because she wasn’t a super-established movie star yet."
'13 Going On 30' is currently available to stream on Netflix.