Matt and Jenna forever!
13 Going on 30 premiered in theaters 15 years ago this month, and star Mark Ruffalo still warmly remembers his time working on the rom-com classic opposite Jennifer Garner. The two played childhood best friends who fall in love as adults when a 13-year-old Garner suddenly wakes up as a 30-year-old magazine executive one morning thanks to some magic wishing dust.
“We had the sweetest time,” Ruffalo told Entertainment Tonight. “[Jennifer] was a big star then but I was kind of just starting out. She was just so lovely.”
“We were making this really sweet movie that had a great message for young girls,” he continued. “We were all sort of coming into our own in that moment. We really loved that story and Jen was just transformed into a 13-year-old girl. It was really amazing.”
Ruffalo also joked about reuniting with Garner someday in the Avengers franchise, where he plays the Hulk.
“I’m surprised she’s not really here yet, actually. Love Jen Garner, by the way,” he said.
The movie recently gained notoriety again when Ariana Grande briefly recreated some scenes in the video for her smash hit “thank u, next.”
Grande, 25, pays tribute to multiple teen rom-coms in the video, one of which is 13 Going on 30. Dressed in a red peplum top, blue jeans and sporting shoulder-length hair, Grande cries in front of a dollhouse much like Garner’s Jenna Rink in the film.
Garner praised Grande in an Instagram post after the video came out.
“Every now and then something comes along and just brightens your day,” Garner, 46, wrote in the caption. “@arianagrande you’re adorable. Thank you, pretty girl. #thankunext.”
Grande responded to Garner’s Instagram post, writing, “nooooooooOoOOoOo I’m crying. I watched this movie every night before bed growing up (and I still do sometimes, especially when I’m sad).”
