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Jennifer Garner collaborated with The Office creator Ricky Gervais for his comedy The Invention of Lying. But while doing the feature, Gervais was becoming increasingly irritable on set. This eventually caused him to snap at Garner due to one of his own personal pet peeves.

How Ricky Gervais got along with Jennifer Garner

Garner was drawn to Invention of Lying after the comedian sent her the film’s script. As the title implies, the movie took place in a world where lying hadn’t been created. Gervais’ character would end up uttering the first lie ever, sending its reality into potential turmoil. Speaking with HuffPost, Garner reflected on all the script’s qualities that attracted her to the movie.

“I liked the questions that it brought up,” Garner said. “I liked the conversations that I felt would start. I thought that it was funny. Really, when I first read it, I just laughed out loud, and that’s the most important thing. I loved the way my character was introduced. I loved the challenge of looking at a scene and thinking, I have to play this with no subtext, no irony, no sarcasm and just be as straightforward as I could possibly be. I think that’s a really interesting acting challenge.”

It turned out the behind-the-scenes interactions between Garner and Gervais might’ve been just as entertaining as the series. Gervais admitted that he wanted as little distractions as possible while on set, although his expectations were unrealistic.

“OK, this isn’t me being precious or being a diva. I just need quiet when I’m acting. So I don’t want the cameraman chewing gum. I don’t want people sniffing or writing,” Gervais once told Boston Herald.

But during one scene, Garner broke one of Gervais’ many restrictions on set, which the Golden Globe host didn’t react kindly to.

“So one of the last days of filming, Jennifer Garner just did this scene and started by blowing a bubble with bubblegum, and I went, ‘What the [expletive] are you doing?’ That’s on the DVD,” he said.

Why Jennifer Garner loved working with Ricky Gervais

It was mentioned that Garner was already used to working in the comedy genre. 13 Going on 30 and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past are just some of the few lighthearted films she has to her name. Thanks to her familiarity with the genre, Garner was able to pinpoint what made Gervais’ own humor stand out in Lying.

“I think there are a couple of different trends in humor. One is the Judd Apatow kind of humor of embarrassment [that’s] humor of gross-out. Then there’s the humor of embarrassment with reality, using real relationships and situations,” she said. “That’s what Ricky does.”

Garner felt Gervais’ personal humor came from a real and endearing place, which was an inspiring environment to work in.

“I think part of what he does so well is that his humor is never mean spirited. It’s very honest. He’s very interested in what’s honest, and he finds the truth to be the funniest. I loved working with him because he’s so clear about what would make something funny, and he’s always right. He’s so funny and so incredibly good at what he does,” she said.

Jennifer Garner kept asking Ricky Gervais about being in ‘The Office’ and ‘Extras’

Around the time of Lying, Gervais had a hand in two popular television shows. He became a producer on the American version of The Office. Meanwhile, he also produced and starred in Extras. The comedy series followed an inspiring actor who takes work as an extra to backdoor himself into the film industry.

The show featured many celebrity guests including Daniel Radcliffe, Kate Winslet, and Ben Stiller. Garner couldn’t help wonder why she wasn’t a part of either project.

“I do ask Ricky all the time why I haven’t been invited to be on Extras or The Office or anything else. I bug him about it all the time and I’m still waiting. They’re both done. They’re speedy over there,” she said.

Given that Garner never appeared in either show, however, it seemed confronting Gervais did little to help.

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