Sunday, Jan. 13, was a monumental night for Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner. And not because — or not just because — Affleck took home the coveted Best Director and Best Picture Golden Globes for Argo. That was certainly part of it, but the evening was special for another reason, as well: It was the first time the camera-shy husband and wife of seven years had walked a red carpet together since the 2007 Golden Globes.
It's not that the happily married twosome, both 40, haven't attended any events as a couple over the past six years — they have. But they've become experts at not being photographed together on the red carpet. Their last formal, joint red carpet photo op at any big event was when they posed cheek-to-cheek at the 64th Annual Golden Globes in 2007, the year Affleck was nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category for his role in Hollywoodland.
At the time, the Daredevil co-stars had been married for less than two years and had one child, daughter Violet, now 7. They've since had two more kids, daughter Seraphina, 4, and son Samuel, 10 months.
Another difference (aside from 2013 Affleck's beard vs. 2007 Affleck's chiseled, clean-shaven jaw)? The couple's careers. Six years ago, the Argo visionary was known primarily as an actor who once wrote an Oscar-winning screenplay with longtime pal Matt Damon. It wasn't until later in 2007 that he made his feature film directorial debut with Gone Baby Gone and began to really establish himself as one of Hollywood's multi-talented elite.
Garner, for her part, finished her run as Sydney Bristow on TV's Alias in 2006 and was only just beginning to focus exclusively on her movie career when she and her husband attended the Globes in 2007. Later that year, she starred in the sleeper hit Juno, for which she earned several rave reviews.
Sunday's Globes made it clear just how far the lovebirds had come when Affleck won the award for Best Director, beating out more seasoned contenders like Kathryn Bigelow, Ang Lee, Steven Spielberg, and Quentin Tarantino. "These nominees are exceptional talents," he said in his acceptance speech. "I truly…never thought I would be in the same breath as them."
Then, in a rare public display of affection for Garner, he added: "I want to thank my wife who is the reason why I'm standing here. I adore you. I love you so much. Thanks for sitting through this. You are my everything."
