Actress Jennifer Garner on Monday shared a new video of her intense workout regimen for her transformation into Elektra, the sai-wielding assassin in Marvel’s recent movie Deadpool & Wolverine.
The video shows Garner practising fencing and boxing to sharpen her fighting skills for her stunts before the camera. The actress also went for runs and honed her swimming skills as part of the rigorous routine.
“I was fit, but not marvel fit,” she captioned the video on Instagram in a nod to the hard shift that she put in at the gym for her role in the superhero movie directed by Shawn Levy.
“My bestie and OG stunt double Shauna Duggins and I amped up our training, led by Beth Nicely: 1x/day, plus whatever homework she assigned for a second workout. Boxing 3x/week with Flvco Pichardo. We had #SuperHeroSummer over here, twirling sais in the backyard and laughing at our sore old bodies,” wrote the 52-year-old actress, expressing her gratitude to Levy and Ryan Reynolds, who gave her the opportunity to reprise her character.
Garner originally played Elektra in Ben Affleck’s 2003 Daredevil movie from 20th Century Fox and headlined her own Elektra spinoff in 2005. The recently released Deadpool and Wolverine, however, enabled her to bid a proper goodbye to her character.
“I didn’t know that Elektra and I needed an ending, but Shawn and Ryan did. They are gifted in many ways, but seeing and elevating people around them is at the top of the list. Shauna and I were in heaven on set with them,” wrote Garner, adding that she had thoroughly enjoyed shooting the fight sequence with Reynolds and Levy.
“Shooting the fight was so fun, being there all together—truly like a dream. I’m proud of my friends and grateful to be up there with them. Thank you doesn’t cut it, guys, but it’s a good placeholder until I figure out what does,” the actress concluded her note, thanking the rest of the cast including Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), Dafne Keen (Laura) and Channing Tatum (Gambit).
In her long note, Garner revealed that Reynolds and Levy had originally pitched the role to her while working together on the 2022 film The Adam Project. “I remember the moment @slevydirect and @vancityreynolds had the idea for Elektra Natchios to show up in @deadpoolmovie 3—we were on the set of The Adam Project and they gave each other this look they have that can communicate an idea, 20 pages of dialogue, nuclear codes—there is a crazy artistic kismet between those two.”
Later, Reynolds shared a series of behind-the-scenes pictures featuring Garner as Elektra from the set of Levy’s Deadpool & Wolverine alongside a note to heaped praise on the actress’s commitment to her craft.
“This @jennifer.garner person. She has a black belt in nice but has inside her an unblinking hurricane of vengeance. I’ve worked with Jen twice now. She brings a completely different scope of skills to each movie but can’t hide one detail…I don’t care how talented someone is, you can’t hide humanity. She’s not only one of my favourite performers; she’s one of my favourite people. I love her and I will now and always owe her one. Or five. What a baller,” noted Reynolds.
In addition to Garner, Jon Favreau, Henry Cavill, Edward Norton, Chris Evans, Tyler Mane, Channing Tatum, Wesley Snipes, Dafne Keen and Blake Lively also made cameo appearances in Deadpool & Wolverine.
The superhero film, which was released theatrically on July 26, has already breached the 100-crore mark in India and earned over Rs 6900 crore worldwide, according to industry data-tracking site Sacnilk.
