Many would mistakenly label Jennifer Garner as “just” a romcom heroine — and they would be wrong. Garner has proven this countless times before, and she’s doing it once again in season two of her hit Apple TV+ show, The Last Thing He Told Me.
Season one followed Hannah (Jennifer Garner) as she navigated the disappearance of her husband, Owen (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), and tried to team up with her teenage stepdaughter, Bailey (Angourie Rice), to solve the mystery. Hannah initially seemed like a classic Garner character — someone who might happily sit in a group chat alongside 13 Going on 30’s Jenna Rink or Juno’s Vanessa Loring. But over the course of the season, we watch this sweet woodturner (not woodworker!) grow more feisty and bold, ultimately earning Bailey’s respect in the process.
Season two of The Last Thing He Told Me raises the stakes even further. This time around, Hannah is the kind of woman who would call out everyone’s nonsense in the group chat and then leave without a trace. She’s fighting back — literally.
Five years on, Owen has returned. Determined to bring down the Campano family in exchange for his freedom, his mission sets off a chain reaction of escalating tensions. The story becomes something of a full-blown family affair, involving Quinn Campano (Judy Greer), who was once best friends with Bailey’s mother, as well as Bailey’s grandfather and uncle.
Between stunt work and fight scenes, Glamour caught up with Jennifer Garner to discuss how motherhood shaped — and sometimes challenged — her approach to the role, working again with her bestie Judy Greer, and her favourite memories of 13 Going on 30.
Greer plays Quinn Campano, the daughter of an infamous mobster trying to take Owen down. She was once best friends with his ex-wife and Bailey’s mum, which puts her at odds with Garner’s Hannah as Bailey’s stepmum and Owen’s wife.
Garner was actually responsible for bringing Greer onto the cast for season two. “Heck yes I was, because everyone wants Judy in everything… I pitched it as soon as I said, ‘Maybe we could get Judy.’ No one had even thought of going to her because they assumed she’d be too busy. And then I went to Judy and said, ‘We have this really cool new role and it’s my nemesis… and we’d get to go to France.’ So yes, I think I did help broker that a bit.”
Season two also sees a profound shift in the relationship between Bailey and Hannah, to the point that she even calls her “mum.” The banter and trust between the two characters is a driving force throughout the season, and Garner felt the same way.
“I love her, I think she’s a brilliant actress,” Garner gushes. “We loved that our characters got along as well as we do. And it was actually uncomfortable for us when they started to have issues.”
Garner is a mother to three children herself, and co-parents them with ex-husband Ben Affleck, which informed her approach to the role. “Well, I think you take everything that you are, everything that you have experienced, into whatever role you do,” Garner explains. “And I don’t think you have to have been a parent to play a parent… Suddenly she’s on her own with this stepdaughter and trying her hardest, but she does absolutely everything wrong. What she doesn’t know is that that’s so normal with a teenager… So yeah, the ways my parenthood informed the role is just the capacity for love.”
Season one often saw Hannah and Bailey pitted against each other, reluctantly teaming up, but season two shifts them into more of a partnership. Hannah shows an unwavering willingness to sacrifice, often putting Bailey ahead of Owen — choosing her daughter over her husband, a choice no parent imagines making, especially one who has only recently become a stepmother to a teenager.
“I think Hannah is the best case scenario in every way… She’s the grown-up in every room and she’s the epitome of all things,” Garner says. “She’s the woman who can do anything. Where we see her flawed is in her relationship with her own mother, but with Bailey, she gets the assignment. She is selfless… and does everything she can to protect her in all the ways that I aim to do as a mother, and that is so hard to do.”
Aside from bringing Greer in, season two also introduces Rita Wilson as Hannah’s estranged mother, creating parallels between how Hannah’s mum left her and Owen left his family — and exploring the question of how one learns to parent.
On working with Wilson, Garner says, “Rita and I have been friends for a long time, and I have always admired her as an actress… especially as a comedic actress. I had no idea — I mean, I think I knew, but until I was on set with her and saw the depth of what she would bring to this role, I was blown away. I’m so excited for people to see her do this work.”
In the five-year gap between seasons one and two, Hannah prepares for the worst by taking self-defence classes. Without giving anything away, it pays off, as Hannah spends several episodes running and fighting. This also required significant preparation from Garner.
“I really like a fight scene… I believed it would make sense for Hannah to have learned to protect herself physically in the five-year gap. She knows their lives are going to be in danger again… She’s smart enough to be getting everything ready for she and Bailey, and she learns to fight. I loved playing it.”
“I actually got to fight a stunt performer I’d worked with on The Kingdom — it was a very physical fight then, probably the most brutal I’d ever done. His name’s Sala, he’s this huge guy from New Zealand and very imposing. I trust him so much that the crew was shocked on the first day of shooting when he was throwing me around. I told them, ‘Don’t worry, I’ve danced with him before.’”
It’s understandable that her children don’t watch her roles. “They don’t really love watching me on screen,” she explains. “They really want me to be mum… If they have seen it, they haven’t told me.”
She adds that they help her learn lines and stay involved in the process. “They’re very, very involved… But watching me cry or fight or be in danger is less appealing to them.”
Looking ahead, Garner is open to whatever comes next. “But I think eventually I’d like to go back and see if there’s room for me on stage again somewhere — that’s what I always meant to do. And go back to modern drama or classical drama or anything, really. I’m really up for anything.”
As for what viewers can expect this season, Garner says, “I think season two is about second chances… Is forgiveness possible, and what can you forgive? And also, are these two people ever going to be safe?”
Glamour: 13 Going On 30's Y2K style or 2020s style?
Garner: I have to say 13 Going On 30.
Glamour: You don't really have a choice, do you?
Garner: Yeah, I don't have a choice. But the same person's been dressing me. Susie DeSanto did the costumes for that, and I've worked with her ever since. She did the costumes for The Last Thing He Told Me. Seasons one and two.
Glamour: Your Elektra costume or Sydney Bristow's colorful wigs in Alias?
Garner: Maybe Elektra.
**Glamour: **The Thriller dance from 13 Going On 30, or singing Baby, I Need Your Loving in Yes Day?
Garner: The Thriller Dance.
Glamour: Romcoms or action roles?
Garner: Both.
Glamour: That's cheating.
Garner: On Monday, I'm about to start an action romcom with John Cena.
Glamour: Doing stunts or monologues?
Garner: Well, monologues, but stunts is a close, close second.
Glamour: Really? I'd find stunts a lot of pressure.
Garner: Stunts are fun, but words are better.
Glamour: Book adaptations like The Last Thing He Told Me, or comic book world building?
Garner: Book adaptations.
Glamour: Do you always read the book first?
Garner: Oh my gosh, of course, Many, many, many, many times. I want to bring their character to life, so I want to be infused with their words.
Glamour: Juno the film or Juno the Sabrina Carpenter song?
Garner: The film. I love Sabrina Carpenter, but Juno the film is a perfect, perfect movie. Elliot Page, are you kidding me?
Glamour: Working with Judy Greer in 13 Going On 30 or in The Last Thing He Told Me?
Garner: Just Judy Greer in general, all day, every day. All the places everywhere, but there's something about working with Judy in The Last Thing He Told Me that we brought all of our experiences with us and it was very, it's a really full-fledged relationship at this point, it's 20 plus years.
The Last Thing He Told Me season two is available to watch on AppleTV+.
