We don't have to be airbrushed just to show up: Hollywood star Jennifer Garner

New Delhi, Jul 9 (PTI) Hollywood star Jennifer Garner feels lucky to have a "lovely life", but the actor, popular for romantic comedies like "13 Going on 30", "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" and "Valentine's Day", says she never tries to present a perfect image on social media. Garner said she leads a normal life and encourages others to do the same. "Look, I don't post on Instagram very often, maybe once or twice a week. But when I do, I definitely am usually not in makeup. I usually am in whatever I happen to be wearing. And granted, I do live a lovely life and I'm very lucky that way... But I try to take the perfection out of it. "I'm not a perfect cook and yet I love to cook. So in my own quiet way, I'm trying to just encourage that side of other women and feel like we don't have to be airbrushed just to be, just to show up for each other," Garner told PTI in a virtual interview from Los Angeles. The actor now stars in "The Five-Star Weekend", an adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand's novel of the same name that will see her play a celebrity as a food influencer. Hilderbrand's "The Perfect Couple" was recently adapted by Netflix. In "The Five-Star Weekend", Garner's Hollis Shaw invites her girlfriends from different decades of her life as a way to process her grief after the sudden death of her husband. The Peacock show features a star-studded cast in Chloe Sevigny, D'Arcy Carden, Timothy Olyphant and Gemma Chan among others. It will start streaming in India on JioHotstar from Friday. Garner said she was looking for something interesting and complicated when she found Hilderbrand's 2023 novel and instantly connected with its story. "I love Elin Hilderbrand's writing. I loved this particular novel. I was surprised by it as I read it all the way through from beginning to end. I love Bekah Brunstetter, who is our showrunner. I loved her adaptation. She's a playwright. She has a deft hand. She's gifted at character, at comedy, at drama, all of it," the actor said. "There aren't that many roles that are appropriately complex and compelling for a woman in their 50s. So, I was thrilled to be offered the role, honestly. There were lots of ways that I connected with Hollis Shaw and definitely one of them was being a public person while dealing with something privately." Like her character in the show, Garner said she has always found strength in her friends. "I don't mean to be dramatic about it, but my girlfriends are everything. They've propped me up. I have two wonderful sisters. So my girlfriends are a continuation of a sisterhood for me," she said, adding that it would be beautiful to host a party for friends in a place like Nantucket, a beach island in Massachusetts that has become popular with Hilderbrand's readers. "I can't imagine any more beautiful place for a girl's weekend than Nantucket. As a matter of fact, Nantucket has become a really popular gathering for groups of women, particularly fans of Elin Hilderbrand's books who gather in Nantucket throughout the summer. "They go around and see all the places they've read about in her books. And as we were shooting there, they'd be on the lookout for us. That was really fun. But honestly, I think a gathering of girlfriends can be just as comfortable in your own home. It doesn't matter as long as you're together," she said. The 54-year-old actor was also happy to reunite with her "13 Going on 30" co-star Judy Greer on her new show. The 2004 movie, directed by late Gary Winick and also starring Mark Ruffalo and Andy Serkis, continues to be a favourite among Garner's fans. It is now getting a reboot by Netflix with the actor attached as an executive producer. "It's really a reflection of our beautiful angel of a director, Gary Winick, who died a couple of years later from brain cancer. Judy and I try to keep his memory alive because he had this gift for bringing out nostalgia in people and bringing out just the best in his performers because he so believed in what all of us were doing. "We really and truly loved him and love to see his legacy going on to stage in a musical and in the reboot. However, it shows up, we're grateful for it," the actor said while remembering the director, who died in 2011 from brain cancer at the age of 49. PTI BK MAH BK BK