Rise to Fame
Before Alias, Garner was a supporting player on Felicity, which is exactly why ABC didn't want her as Sydney Bristow. J.J. Abrams wrote the part for her anyway. The show debuted in 2001 and she won a Golden Globe the following year, with four consecutive Emmy nominations stacking up behind it. Steven Spielberg cast her in Catch Me If You Can after seeing her on Alias. The spy show made her a movie star and introduced her to Ben Affleck on the Daredevil set, which is a whole other story.
In the Spotlight
She's been working steadily in TV and film, but the real action is in produce aisles. Once Upon a Farm, the organic kids' food brand she joined in 2017, went public on the NYSE in February 2026, raising $197.9 million at a $724 million valuation. The brand went from under $1 million in revenue when she joined to over $100 million annually. She also reprised Elektra in Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) and leads The Last Thing He Told Me Season 2 on Apple TV+. At 53, she's more diversified than most people her age in Hollywood.
Side Notes
She started college as a chemistry major at Denison University before switching to theater. Her family's farm in Locust Grove, Oklahoma, has operated since 1936 and directly inspired Once Upon a Farm's origin story. She played saxophone in her high school marching band in Charleston, West Virginia, where she's described herself as a 'band geek.' The gap between that and spy show Golden Globe winner is where her actual story lives.