Ben Affleck & Jennifer Garner Share Joyful & Action-Filled Outing Together

While their Hollywood friends and coworkers dressed to the nines to attend the 2025 Academy Awards, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner opted for a much more casual and lowkey way to spend their time. The former couple were spotted at a paintball park instead, looking happy and having fun.

The Former Couple Were Celebrating Their Son’s Birthday

Affleck and Garner were photographed laughing and chatting at a Los Angeles paintball park, holding paintball gear and sticking close to each other. At one point, X17Online observed them in full gear alongside their son, Samuel, and his friends, participating in his birthday festivities.

Neither Affleck nor Garner had any stakes in this year’s Oscars, so it’s not that astonishing that they both decided to skip it. Samuel turned 13 on February 27, and the birthday party obviously occurred a few days later. With the party’s date coincidentally falling on the same night as the Academy Awards, it’s unsurprising that their child’s birthday celebration would take priority.

Neither Actor is a Regular at the Star-Studded Event

While Affleck has been nominated for and won two Oscars, his appearances at the star-studded event have been spotty at best. He obviously came out for the 1997 ceremony when he won Best Original Screenplay for “Good Will Hunting,” and then in 2013, when his film “Argo” won Best Picture. He’s also shown up as a presenter several times, including at the memorable 2017 event when Jimmy Kimmel pranked him and Matt Damon as they presented the nominations for Best Original Screenplay.

Over the years, Jennifer Garner has received awards from the People’s Choice, Screen Actors Guild, Online Film & Television Association, and Academy of Science Fiction, MTV Movie + TV Awards, Fantasy & Horror Films, most notably for her work on the hit series “Alias” and as Elektra in “Daredevil” and “Elektra.” Unfortunately, she has not received any Oscar nominations, but that hasn’t dissuaded her from getting glammed up for many awards ceremonies.

Even though family plans kept her busy, at least Garner was still thinking about the Oscars — specifically the 2018 Oscars. The actress posted a carousel of images on her Instagram with the caption “Revisiting a Favorite,” along with hearts. The photos captured Garner in a stunning blue dress with a built-in cape and flowing train. The post also showed that Garner can laugh at herself, as she included the video of herself that became a meme when the camera suddenly panned to her looking extremely unsettled, or as if she’d just had an epiphany.