Jennifer Garner has opened up about one of the most challenging days of her career, returning to work Dallas Buyers Club just weeks after giving birth to her third child.
Talking to Hits Radio’s My life in film YouTube series, the actress, 53, recalled the intensity of filming the Oscar-nominated drama, which was shot in just 21 days, shortly after she welcomed son Samuel with Ben Affleck in 2012.
The pace left almost no room to breathe, and for a mother in labor it was a very specific and painful problem.
“I was breastfeeding and we were shooting. It was the first day and around bedtime for my baby suddenly, my [body] exploded,” she said.
In other productions there had always been a natural window, a camera turn, a brief pause where she could slip away. On this one there was nothing. “I couldn’t be in that movie,” she said simply.
The emotion of it all caught up with her on the set. Leaving her newborn was already hard, and the physical discomfort pushed her over the edge.
“The third kid, leaving him was so hard and I was a disaster. And I start crying and I can’t stop crying. I’m not supposed to cry. And Matthew said, ‘What’s going on with you?'” she recalled.
When she explained what she needed but didn’t want to slow down production, McConaughey didn’t hesitate.
“He said, ‘Guys, I need a moment. And he said, ‘Just go and do what you have to do.’ And watched the rest of that movie every time I had to pump [he would break].”
The move meant a lot to Garner, especially considering what McConaughey and co-star Jared Leto were putting their own bodies through at the time, both on extreme diets to lose weight for their respective roles.
