Love is a many-splendored thing, especially when you’re gawking at it from the outside. In this column, we’ll be examining the celebrity couples that give us hope for our own romantic futures and trying to learn what we can from their well-documented bonds.
Although I’ve obsessively chronicled Jennifer Lopez’s every saucy, single-girl move since the end of her marriage to Ben Affleck, there’s another Hollywood Jen I just can’t seem to quit: Jennifer Garner, Affleck’s first wife and J.Lo’s reputed buddy.
As a rule, I hope desperately and constantly for Garner’s happiness, which is why it delighted me so much to see her share a kiss with John Miller, her boyfriend of seven years, at the finish line of a charity run Garner did in Santa Monica for Save the Children last Sunday. Women celebrating their men when they complete athletic feats? Boring. The inverse? Stunning, supportive, adorable, never been done before.
Given Garner is fully in her 50s, I know that I should stop thinking of her as Jenna Rink, her character from 13 Going on 30, but I can’t help it. When I see her adorably decked out in two French braids, demurely planting a peck on her man, I immediately think of Jenna marrying sweet, sweet Matty—a.k.a. Mark Ruffalo—at the end of the movie while everyone cheers. After all that tabloid fracas around her divorce, this is the soft pink, Vaseline-lensed Hollywood fade-out that Garner has always deserved.
There’s not a ton of information out there about Miller, save for the fact that he’s chairman of the investment company Cali Group and the author of the 2004 book The Handbook of Nanotechnology: Business, Policy, and Intellectual Property Law. (Weirdly, I haven’t read it, although I did get through about three pages of a pink-jacketed book on entertainment law while waiting for my best friend in her law school’s library. Please clap!) I also enjoy the fact that Miller was briefly CEO of CaliBurger, a fast-food chain best known for flagrantly ripping off In-N-Out, and that one of the kids he shares with his ex-wife, violinist Caroline Campbell, is named Violet. Given that one of Garner and Affleck’s daughters is also a Violet, do they adopt Violet 1 and Violet 2 nicknames when they hang out? (I mean, after seven years together, I assume that Miller and Garner’s children hang out…but what do I know? You famously can’t make teens do anything!)
Another aspect of Garner and Miller’s relationship that entrances me is the fact that, like many of the world’s strongest couples, they’ve broken up, seen the error of their ways, and gotten back together. The two began dating in 2018, split in 2020, and then appeared to have rekindled their relationship the following year. In case it sounds like I’m being sarcastic or snide, let me assure you that I’m not; I genuinely believe in the growth and maturity of people who break up only to come back together as their fuller, more evolved selves. Plus, my devotion to J.Lo and Ben’s drama should prove that I’m a loyal friend of the hot-and-cold romance. Here’s hoping it’s all hot for Garner and Miller, though!
