‘Family Leave’ Jennifer Garner Netflix Movie: Everything We Know So Far

Filming for Jennifer Garner’s next Netflix project, the family comedy Family Leave, is currently ongoing. Rising star from the sensational Wednesday series Emma Myers has been cast in a lead role as she takes on her second role in a Netflix Original. Here’s everything we know so far about Family Leave on Netflix.

First announced in February 2021 (just ahead of the release of Yes Day on Netflix), Jennifer Garner would be playing the lead in a new family movie from Grey Matter Productions, About it Productions, and Linden Entertainment.

This will mark Garner’s fourth major title for Netflix following her voice role in Llama Llama, Yes Day, and 2022’s The Adam Project, where she starred alongside Ryan Reynolds and Mark Ruffalo.

Jennifer Garner in The Adam Project alongside Ryan Reynolds – Picture: Netflix

Victoria Strouse serves as the writer on the movie adaptation, which is based on the children’s book Bedtime for Mommy by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.  Strouse is best known for working on Pixar’s Finding Dory, ABC’s October Road, and Disney’s Tink.

McG, who previously directed Rim of the World, The Babysitter, and its sequel The Babysitter Killer for Netflix will direct his fourth feature film for the streaming service in Family Leave.

This marks the writer’s second major Netflix movie following 2019’s Let It Snow starring Isabela Merced and Shameik Moore.

Justine Baddeley Arteta and Kim Davis-Wagner serve as casting directors on the feature film. McG, Lawrence Grey, Ben Everard, Nicole King, and Jason Brian Rosenthal serve as producers.

Jane Flowers serves as casting director.

What is Family Leave about?

Per Netflix’s initial announcement, here’s what you can expect:

“The Brenners wake up to a full family body switch, they quickly realize the same thing has happened to a family on the other side of the world; they must unite with this group of strangers and determine how to undo the body switch.”

An additional synopsis provided to What’s on Netflix fleshes out more on the plot:

“The Walkers are a nuclear family of five: Mom Jess, Dad Bill, 16 year old daughter CC, 14 year old son WYATT, and 2 year old daughter Mia. But when a mysterious event occurs at the Griffith Park Planetarium, the nuclear elements split and recombine; Jen’s mind is in CC’s body (and vice versa), while Bill’s mind is in WYATT’s body (and vice versa). While CC and Wyatt try to navigate the impossibly complicated world that is adulthood (responsibilities, skills, fears, ambitions), Jen and Bill must work their way through the insanely intricate network of rites of passage (bullying, soccer games, music, parties, romance) that comes with being a teenager, while all four scramble to undo the spell that catastrophically recombined their personalities…”

The movie is based on the book Bedtime for Mommy written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrated by LeUyen Pham. The 32-page children’s book was released in 2010.

When will production start on Netflix’s Family Leave?

Filming is currently ongoing and has been since December 2022. It’s expected that filming will conclude after March 2023.

Some avid fans of Emma Myers have taken some photos from behind the scenes while filming is ongoing.

Emma Myers filming her new Netflix movie 😍🥰💕 pic.twitter.com/dQs9w6a4th

— SlasherMan (@NeonGiallo) February 18, 2023

#NEW : Emma Myers recently for the filming of the film “Family Leave” from Netflix (22/02/2023) pic.twitter.com/3AGH6BXLCi

— Emma Myers (@emmamyersupdate) February 24, 2023

Filming on Family Leave will be taking place in Los Angeles, California with the project also receiving a tax grant from the California Film Commission back in February 2022.

Jennifer Garner speaking about the tax credit, said, “As an actor, producer, and mother, it’s impossible to overstate what shooting locally means to me and other families in this industry. I’ve been lucky to work with some of the greatest crew members of my career here in California, and I’m looking forward to reconnecting with some of my home team friends on this project.”

Who are the cast members of Family Leave?

At first only Jennifer Garner was confirmed, and soon Ed Helms was announced to co-star alongside her.

Helms is best known for his long stint on the NBC series, The Office, where he played Andy Bernard. Helms headlined Coffee & Kareem for Netflix and was featured in A Futile and Stupid Gesture.

The production finally has its CC, with breakout Wednesday star Emma Myers cast in the role. Myers portrayed Enid Sinclair, Wednesday Addams’s werewolf roomie in the series. Prior to this Myers starred in the crime thriller Girl in the Basement, and a series of small shorts. Given her newfound stardom, she’ll be one of the most in-demand young actresses right now.

Also confirmed to star in Family Leave is The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers actor Brady Noon, who has been cast in the role of Wyatt. Brady is also well known for being one of the hilarious trio of Good Boys.

In order of IMDb’s StarMeter, the following actors have been cast for Family Leave:

• Rita Moreno (West Side Story)
• Matthias Schweighöfer (Army of the Dead)
• Leon Masuda (The Flash)
• Bashir Salahuddin (Top Gun: Maverick)
• Paul Scheer (The League)
• Fortune Feimster (The Mindy Project)
• Xosha Roquemore (Precious)
• Andrew Bachelor (The Babysitter)
• Ilia Isorelýs Paulino (Me Time)
• Pete Holmes (College. Humor Originals)
• Ned Bellamy as Hanes (Blonde)
• Naomi Ekperigin (Me Time)
• Dan Finnerty as Gus (The Hangover)
• Vanessa Carrasco (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)

Are you looking forward to watching Family Leave on Netflix? Let us know in the comments down below.