United Kingdom, Sept. 16 -- Jennifer Garner decided against appearing in Animals when ex-husband Ben Affleck planned to cast himself as her on-screen spouse.

The 54-year-old actor-and-director's new movie centres around the kidnapping of a Los Angeles mayoral candidate's son, and he initially had friend Matt Damon on board to play the politician and was keen to sign up his former wife opposite his pal.

Ben noted bringing Jennifer - who he split from in 2015 - on board would have had an "added benefit" for the pair of them in the form of more time with their kids, Violet, 20, Finn, 17, and 14-year-old Samuel.

He told Entertainment Weekly: "I thought, God, Jen Garner would be amazing for this role.

"It also has the added benefit of, lik...