Mark Ruffalo And Jennifer Garner Reflect On 13 Going On 30 Reunion For The Adam Project

Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo as Jenna and Matty eating Razzles in 13 Going on 30
(Image credit: Sony Pictures Releasing)

When Jennifer Garner’s Jenna said “Arrivederci” and Mark Ruffalo’s Matty said “Au revoir” for the last time in 2004’s 13 Going On 30, I really felt that because since then, we’ve yet to see the pair in a sequel to the rom-com or any other collaboration for that matter. But thankfully, a project came along that will bring them back together on screen again. Yes, Garner and Ruffalo are back at it playing parents in The Adam Project

The upcoming Netflix film centers on Ryan Reynolds’ Adam, a time-traveling pilot who has to team up with his younger self and late father (played by Mark Ruffalo) to save the future. Reynolds cleverly cast Garner and Ruffalo as his character’s mother and father, making for a 13 Going On 30 reunion. Ruffalo shared what it was like to work with the Jenna to his Matty all this time later: 

It was like we picked up where we left off. It was like Jenna and Matty went off and had Ryan Reynolds as a kid, and no one can understand how he got so tall.

Mark Ruffalo was at the premiere of The Adam Project with People when he reflected on the experience working with Jennifer Garner again. His 13 Going on 30 and The Adam Project collaborator had this to say:  

I know he was excited to be with me and I was too. We had a great time.

Upon talking about 13 Going on 30 this week while promoting their new movie, the actors also shared interest in doing a sequel along the lines of 50 Going On 80. Ok, so maybe not that idea specifically, but they definitely want to work together soon. Perhaps The Adam Project can act as a spiritual sequel to the 2004 romantic comedy? 

When they made 13 Going on 30 together, Jennifer Garner was playing Sydney Bristow on Alias and had just played Elektra in Daredevil. Mark Ruffalo, on the other hand, had not become Hulk yet, but he was in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Collateral that same year. Both of them had their first kids (Garner with Ben Affleck and Ruffalo with Sunrise Coigney) in 2005, just following the release of the beloved rom-com. 

The Adam Project is debuting on Netflix next Friday, March 11, following positive reviews from audiences who’ve seen it thus far. According to its first viewers, the movie has an ‘80s science fiction adventure feel to it, akin to Back to the Future and Star Wars. Along with Reynolds, Garner and Ruffalo, Zoe Saldaña and Catherine Keener star in the film as well. Check out what other upcoming movies are headed our way here on CinemaBlend. 

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.