Jennifer Garner has admitted feeling 'nervous' about filming romantic scenes with Timothy Olyphant in their new TV show The Five-Star Weekend, a reunion 20 years after they starred together in Catch and Release (2006). Speaking to Metro in London, Garner described the reunion as 'very comfortable' overall, but confessed that love scenes make her 'much more nervous' as she gets older.
Parallels Between Catch and Release and The Five-Star Weekend
Both projects share striking similarities: in Catch and Release, Garner's character Gray finds love with Olyphant's Fritz after her fiancé dies. In The Five-Star Weekend, Garner's Hollis rekindles a romance with Olyphant's Jack after her husband's death. Garner acknowledged the parallels, saying, 'I know! Isn't it crazy? Yeah, I kept waiting, “Does anyone get that this is what we played before?”'
Garner credited their existing friendship for easing the tension. 'It was so nice to already have that comfort level, especially in a romantic role, because it’s squidgy as you get older, especially. I just feel much more nervous about romantic scenes than I used to. But I already know Timothy’s wife, and I love Alexis so much. He and I trust each other, we like each other, we know that we work well together, and he has no problem making fun of me from the jump, so it was very comfortable and easy. I was very, very happy it was Tim.'
The Five-Star Weekend: Plot and Themes
The series follows food influencer Hollis (Garner) after the shock death of her husband, Matthew (Josh Hamilton). She organises a weekend on Nantucket with four women from different stages of her life: internet friend Gigi (Gemma Chan), childhood best friend Tatum (Chloë Sevigny), college best friend Dru-Ann (Regina Hall), and Brooke (D’Arcy Carden), a friend through their children. The weekend also reunites her with Jack (Olyphant), her first boyfriend from her teenage years.
The show explores grief and female friendship. Garner's character grieves publicly as a public figure, while Chan's Gigi grieves privately, hiding her true feelings. 'Gigi. She’s very much trying to cover and put on a front in this setting with these women that she doesn’t know. But they’re both grieving inside, and they’ve both got a lot to process. And secrets, Gigi has quite a few secrets,' Chan explained.
On-Set Chemistry
Despite the cast never meeting before filming, they developed instant chemistry. 'The ADs [assistant directors] would come back and say, “Okay, set is ready,” and we would be like, “But we’re talking! We’re busy!”' Garner recalled. 'We all complemented each other’s working styles and personalities so easily.'
The series is based on Elin Hilderbrand's novel of the same name. Garner praised the author for giving every character 'something to chew on. You have five lead characters, and it’s an ensemble, and everyone has an arc, a beginning, a middle and an end. Everyone has specific relationships with every other person. It’s not like four people are there to serve one.'
Hopes for Viewers
Garner and Chan shared what they hope audiences take away. 'I hope they feel seen. I hope they call somebody, maybe [who] they haven’t spoken to in a long time, and reach back out and just let go of any weird thing that was hanging because of distance or time,' Garner said. Chan added, 'Definitely. Hopefully they can reconnect.' Garner continued, 'Have a laugh. Just call a friend and watch it together and have a laugh, because there’s so much that happens in every episode. If you have all of these characters to service, a lot of plot goes down, a lot of character stuff goes down, and it’s so funny. Regina Hall, I’m sorry, D’Arcy Carden, are you kidding me? They’re the funniest, funniest. It’s the best. I can’t wait for people to see it. I’m so excited.'
The Five-Star Weekend is available to watch on Sky and NOW.
