A great read turned into a dream role for Jennifer Garner

April 11, 2023  -If you devoured Laura Dave’s novel “ The Last Thing He Told Me,” you’re not alone. The book spent 65 weeks as a New York Times Best Seller and one of those readers who couldn’t put it down was Jennifer Garner.

“I read it with my middle child. We kept pushing bedtime later and later because we were just compelled to read one more chapter, two more chapters, three more chapters,” Garner said in a recent interview, where she had a copy of the book next to her on a chair. “I can’t even explain how much I loved it.”

Her great read turned into a “ dream role ” when Julia Roberts — who was originally attached to star in a TV show based on the book had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. Dave co-created the series, which debuts Friday on Apple TV+, with Josh Singer, her Oscar-winning husband, and wrote the adaptation. Reese Witherspoon, who chose the book for her Reese’s Book Club after its May 2021 release, is also an executive producer.

Garner plays Hannah Hall, who marries a man named Owen (played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) after a whirlwind courtship. Hannah is not just a new wife but a stepmom to Owen’s teen daughter, Bailey, played by Angourie Rice, who regards her as a rude interruption to her family of two. One day Owen disappears and leaves Hannah a note instructing her to protect Bailey, with no other information. Hannah and Bailey are left to figure out what happened.