Jennifer Garner recalls moving people from tables mid-meal to seat Steve Martin when she was a hostess
Jennifer Garner recalls moving people from tables mid-meal to seat Steve Martin when she was a hostess
Sharareh DruryFri, March 6, 2026 at 6:28 PM UTC
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Jennifer Garner attends the Apple TV Press Day on February 03, 2026Credit: Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Before Jennifer Garner was a Hollywood icon, she was navigating table politics as a hostess in New York City.
While a guest on the Dish Podcast, Garner recalled surprising challenges from her hostess days, such as ensuring more attractive diners sat at the front of the restaurant or ensuring celebrities were seated at their favorite table.
"You put beautiful people in certain tables. You put celebrities in certain tables," Garner explained to Dish hosts Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett.
The Family Switch actress shared how one celebrity who had a very particular table was Steve Martin, and if the Only Murders in the Building actor happened to stop by the restaurant for his preferred "table five," whoever was seated there would need to move.
Jennifer Garner and Steve MartinCredit: Getty(2)
"I would have to go to those people and say, 'I am moving you to the bar, and I'm going to buy you some calamari and that's going to be on me,'" Garner said, adding how awkward the situation was for her, especially as she was just 22 at the time.
"People were like, 'Wait, I'm in the middle of a date. You're moving me?'" Garner added.
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Garner shared another insider factoid about restaurant seating, which is that at more noteworthy establishments, "they have the real inner area that they sit everyone that wants to be seen, and then if you're sat outside that, you're basically in Siberia."
"So as we were writing people's names down, if we put a circle next to them, they got seated in Siberia," Garner said.
Jennifer Garner on the Dish Podcast in 2026.Credit: Dish Podcast
When cohost Grimshaw noted that he's heard from actors that working in restaurants can be helpful for their career, Garner agreed, noting that "it is so helpful. Just in life, it's helpful."
Garner also admitted that her time as a hostess could be comparable to, if not even more stressful than, any acting gig. "I've had more nightmares about my days as a hostess, more work nightmares than I have had actor's nightmares. I've had a lot of actor's nightmares, but I will still just be like, ‘There's an hour and a half, wait!'," Garner said. "You know and everyone's mad at me! I still have that dream."
Watch the full interview with Jennifer Garner above.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
