The Transformation Of Ben Affleck And Jennifer Garner's Daughter Violet

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner have worked hard to ensure their three kids don't grow up to be spoiled. In addition to shirking fame and keeping them out of the limelight, they've restricted tech use and emphasized an "normal" upbringing. Their efforts sure appear to have paid off as their eldest, Violet Affleck, born on December 1, 2005, has always found the strength to remain true to herself and has grown into a fine young woman.

Despite being raised in Hollywood, Violet has been proudly speaking out about her convictions since she was 5 years old and confronting the paparazzi. She's since become a passionate teen advocate, always ready to fight for the little guy. Indeed, Violet is quick to help those in need in any situation. As Allure journalist Danielle Pergament told Garner during a 2023 interview, her daughter (who went to the same high school as Violet) was being bullied and it was actually Violet who comforted her, despite being four years older.

In addition to becoming a fearless advocate, Violet has also transformed in appearance. Although she rarely shows up in public, when she does, folks can't help but fixate on one thing: Violet is twins with mom Jennifer Garner. Here's your look inside the complete transformation of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner's daughter, Violet.

Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck's daughter is all grown up, but one thing that hasn't changed through the years is her incredible bond with her father. Indeed, Violet Affleck has been daddy's little girl from the moment she was born. Speaking with InStyle (via People) in 2007, Garner shared how a 16-month-old Violet simply couldn't get enough of him. "Violet prefers him to anyone," Garner said. "He's a teddy bear of a guy."

As she grew older, that bond only deepened, with the father-daughter duo finding a growing number of shared interests, including Spanish. During a 2020 interview on "The Kelly Clarkson Show," Ben revealed how he learned the language at 13 when he spent a year shooting in Mexico for the PBS show, "The Voyage of the Mimi." He liked it so much that he never stopped practicing, and eventually, Violet joined him. "She's been interested in Spanish and so I would often help her," he told Clarkson, admitting that a 15-year-old Violet was quickly becoming more proficient than he was.

What's more, when it comes to her parents' careers, Violet also has a clear favorite: her dad. In 2023, Garner admitted to InStyle (via Today), "My kids don't love to watch me in things." As she explained, they struggle to see portraying mothers, being romantic, or getting emotional on-screen. That logic, however, doesn't apply to Ben's flicks. "They don't mind watching their dad," she mused.

When Jennifer Garner started dating Ben Affleck in 2004 following his failed first engagement to Jennifer Lopez, she gained a level of fame she never wanted. Paparazzi went out of their way to photograph her, and once Violet Affleck was born, their interest grew exponentially. Every day for a decade, Garner would wake up to find anywhere between six and 20 paparazzi parked in wait outside her house. As the actor told PBS in 2020, they would follow her kids everywhere, from school to the doctor's office, affecting every part of their young lives. "My one daughter tried to play soccer and it was such a zoo for the families that they just said, 'Can you please not?'" she recalled.

Garner tried to rally local law enforcement into taking action, even hosting a meeting between fellow celeb mothers, the local sheriff, and the police force at her home. During the event, a 5-year-old Violet showcased just how tenacious she was by writing and delivering a poignant speech about the effects of being hunted by photographers. "Violet's hyper-articulate," Garner told The Hollywood Reporter, recalling how her little girl got up on a chair and confidently addressed the room. "She didn't say her R's right," she recalled of the kindergarten-aged Violet, but that didn't stop her. "She said, 'We didn't ask for this. We don't want these cameras, they're scary."

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner have been proactive in keeping their kids' private lives under wraps, in part by greatly restricting their access to technology. Speaking with Today in 2016, Garner opened up about the challenges of parenting a tween, noting how a 10-year-old Violet would need to get her first computer as she started the fifth grade. "Our daughter doesn't have any of those things, and she's, like, the only kid in the class who doesn't, apparently," the protective mama of three shared. "I found an old laptop this weekend for her and I am kind of panicked about it."

The actor also confirmed that Violet was not allowed to use social media and, although her daughter's school allowed it starting in the sixth grade, Garner did not. Stopping by the "Next Question with Katie Couric" podcast in 2019, Garner admitted her teen daughter had repeatedly asked her about joining Instagram after seeing how much fun she herself was having on the platform. Unfortunately for Violet, Garner would not be easily swayed by that argument. "I just say, 'When you can show me studies that say that teenage girls are happier using Instagram than not, then we can have the conversation,'" she revealed.

Although many tweens might be impressed to learn that their parent was portraying a superhero on the big screen, an 11-year-old Violet Affleck wasn't at all moved by Ben Affleck's stint playing Batman. While promoting 2017's "Justice League," the actor told ET that his daughter was at an age where she was easily embarrassed by everything he did. "I'm like, 'How can I be embarrassing? I'm Batman," he admitted. "She's like, 'Dad, pick me up down the street.'"

That being said, if teasing is a sign of affection, Violet Affleck is as enamored by her famous dad as ever. Three years on, a 14-year-old Violet continued to be unfazed by her father's fame, even giving him a hard time about his latest project, 2020's "The Way Back". In the flick, Ben plays a high school basketball coach opposite a largely young cast. Despite the age gap, he told People they got along famously well, and he even asked Melvin Gregg to add him to the group chat following the last day of shooting. As Ben told the audience at the film's Miami screening, his daughter got a real kick out of that. "She's like, 'Why do they let you on this group chat?,'" he said before revealing the real zinger she threw at him: "You don't know what you're talking about; don't pretend you have any idea what's going on."

Jennifer Garner is a devoted mother, but as she told Today in 2023, she also lets her kids make their own decisions and be themselves. "I want to be around, but I also think it's okay if they suffer from a little bit of benign neglect," she mused. Even so, when her eldest became a full-fledged adult and graduated high school, she didn't exactly have the easiest time.

Violet Affleck hit two big milestones back-to-back, turning 18 in December 2023, then graduating in May 2024, but it was the latter that left her mom completely emotional. As Garner herself showed off on Instagram, she simply couldn't hold back her tears, whether on the flight over or at various pre-graduation events. "Tell me you have a graduate without telling me you have a graduate," she cheekily wrote. Indeed, the emotions began flowing even before that. "I was a wreck the whole month leading up to it," Garner previously told Today. "Every awards ceremony, every final, everything, I just cried and cried at everything." Luckily, when the actual big day came around, she only felt joy and pride.

As for dad Ben Affleck, he had his own emotions to deal with at the time. The graduation marked a headline-making outing for him and then-wife Jennifer Lopez following rumors they were living separately and headed for divorce.

Violet Affleck has been speaking up for what she believes in since she was 5 years old and bravely addressed local law enforcement, asking for new laws to curb the paparazzi's fixation with celebrity kids. By 18, she was further following in her mom's activist footsteps, this time taking on mask bans at a 2024 Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting. Worried about the growing popularity of such bans (which first popped up in North Carolina), Affleck spoke about the dangers they posed given the continued presence of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

After introducing herself as a Los Angeles resident and first-time voter, Affleck launched into a powerful speech, asking the five board members to oppose mask bans in their county. She also asked them to provide various services to tackle the ongoing risks of the pandemic. "To confront the long COVID crisis, I demand mask availability, air filtration, and far-UVC light in government facilities, including jails and detention centers, and mask mandates in county medical facilities," she said, per ABC News. Affleck also called on the board to provide free testing and treatment, and categorically shut down any talk of mask bans. "They do not keep us safer," she slammed. "They make vulnerable members of our community less safe and make everyone less able to participate in Los Angeles together."

While rallying officials to oppose mask bans during a 2024 Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting, Violet Affleck pulled on her own experiences to drive the point home. The 18-year-old, who has often been spotted wearing a mask in public, told the board how she herself learned of their importance the hard way. Revealing that she contracted an unnamed "post-viral condition" in 2019 at age 13, Affleck said she has since recovered, but that the experience taught her an invaluable lesson. "I saw firsthand that medicine does not always have answers to the consequences of even minor viruses," she argued, per ABC News. "The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown that into sharper relief."

The National Library of Medicine defines post-viral syndrome as the "complex condition" that some patients may experience after they've recovered from a viral infection. Symptoms range from joint pain to fatigue, trouble sleeping, and even brain fog. While this type of syndrome was brought to the forefront by long COVID, SARS-CoV-2 is not the only virus that can cause it. Indeed, as Yale University immunobiologist Akiko Iwasaki told Time, "There are a dozen other pathogens that are known to cause these post-acute-infection syndromes." It is unclear, however, which virus triggered Affleck's own experience.

There were plenty of messy moments in Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez's marriage and divorce, and it seems even their kids weren't safe from the drama. During the couple's union, Violet Affleck built a particularly strong bond with her stepmom. Just a month before Lopez filed for divorce in August 2024, she and Violet were spotted vacationing together in Southampton, New York, shopping, dining, and even walking arm-in-arm. Following the split, Violet's relationship with Lopez seemed unchanged. As an insider told the Daily Mail that November, "Violet has a strong attachment to JLo and her family." The source added that her parents were actually confused by Violet's bond with Lopez and her family, alleging, "[They] do not understand why Violet is so adamant on keeping her close."

However, that all appeared to change by February 2025 when the Daily Mail reported that a 19-year-old Violet had cut ties with Lopez. "Violet felt like she was used as a pawn, so to speak, during her dad's split from JLo," the source claimed, adding that Violet began to suspect Lopez had maintained their relationship simply to help with her divorce. Violet was also reportedly swayed by her dad's feelings. "Over time Violet started to see how upset her father was that their split was at the center of everything," the insider mused. It seems she made the right decision, as Ben's bond with Violet has ultimately been unfazed by the JLo divorce drama.

Months before Violet Affleck's high school graduation in May 2024, she was already being proactive about her future education, touring college campuses and trying to find the best fit for her. During a November 2023 appearance on Live with Kelly & Mark (via People), proud mama Jennifer Garner opened up about the experience, noting how her eldest was feeling both excitement and stress, but rising to the challenge. "She's handling it like a champ and she's totally in charge," the actor praised. "I'm not having to say, 'Are you doing this, are you doing this?' She's a self-starter."

Ultimately, Affleck chose to move cross-country from Los Angeles to New Haven, Connecticut, after being accepted into a prestigious Ivy League institution: Yale University. While moving to her new home in August 2024, she was accompanied by both her parents and 15-year-old sibling, Fin Affleck, all of whom were on-hand to support their new freshman. While it's unclear what Violet is studying, it seems she is assimilating to campus life just fine. That November, she was all smiles while posing for a selfie with Jennifer Lopez's younger sister, Lynda Lopez. Lynda posted a snap of them walking around Yale to Instagram, enthusing, "New Haven with my favorite Yalie!"