The Five Star Weekend Has Fans Revisiting Jennifer Garner & Timothy Olyphant's 1st Movie
The Peacock series' lead actress and executive producer says two factors make them such good scene partners.
Key Takeaways
- Jennifer Garner and Timothy Olyphant reunited in Peacock’s The Five Star Weekend, and their onscren chemistry is strengthened by decades of friendship and previous collaborations.
- Garner credited the pair’s “trust and history” from working together since the late 1990s, including in the indie film 1999 and the 2006 romantic comedy Catch and Release.
- Catch and Release gained renewed popularity through streaming, with fans revisiting Garner and Olyphant’s earlier on-screen partnership alongside the release of The Five Star Weekend.
On Peacock'sThe Five Star Weekend, Jennifer Garner and Timothy Olyphant play two high school sweethearts who reconnect decades later. Which is fitting, considering fans first fell in love with their onscreen chemistry 20 years ago.
In the series based on Elin Hilderbrand's bestselling novel, Garner plays cookbook author Hollis Shaw, who spends time with her old flame Jack Finnigan (Olyphant) during a weekend with her four guests in Nantucket six months after the death of her husband. The duo's easygoing, undeniable chemistry is one of the series' joys, along with their talented costars and a killer soundtrack.
In a July 9 conversation with People, Garner spoke about starring opposite Olyphant once again in the Peacock Original. The actress, who was also an executive-producer of the series, pointed to the "trust and history" that's behind the magic they make together in TV and movies.
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Jennifer Garner says she and Timothy Olyphant "hit the ground running" on The Five Star Weekend
"He and I first worked together on an indie in New York City in the '90s," Garner told the outlet, referring to the 1998 independent comedy-drama1999.
Garner told People that reuniting with Olyphant for The Five Star Weekend "was great," and credited the duo's "trust and history" as to to why their characters' connection feels so natural.
“How fun to go in and just hit the ground running, knowing each other like we do,” Garner explained. “With Tim, there was that trust there… I love his wife. I’ve known her forever.”
Olyphant has been married to his wife Alexis Knief for 35 years, tying the knot in 1991 after meeting as students at the University of Southern California. The couple shares three children, Grace, Henry, and Vivian.
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Jennifer Garner and Timothy Olyphant starred in Catch and Release
But 1999 isn't the only movie Garner and Olyphant appeared in together.
Their most well-known collaboration is the 2006 romantic comedy Catch and Release, which has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in the age of streaming. In fact, Garner told People that Catch and Release "has this whole life that I didn’t know it had, which has been very gratifying to learn.”
"Nobody told me The Five Star Weekend is actually a Catch and Release reunion, one viewer wrote on X (formerly Twitter). Another noted that the project allowed Garner to work with not just Olyphant, but another good friend and collaborator, Judy Greer.
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Coincidentally, in Catch and Release Garner plays a woman whose romantic partner dies, kicking off the film's events. And (spoiler alert for a 20-year-old romcom), she finds comfort in Olyphant's character.
The two were also part of an impressive ensemble cast in the 2016 comedy Mother's Day, though they didn't kiss in that movie.
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Stream all eight episodes of The Five Star Weekend on Peacock
All eight episodes of The Five Star Weekend are now streaming on Peacock as of July 9.
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Need more movies and shows to watch this summer? Check out what's new on Peacock in July here.
