Jennifer Garner recently shared a startling behind-the-scenes story from one of her past action films, one that involved real pain, raw instinct, and a missing piece of an ear. While promoting her latest project, the actor looked back on a fight scene that went far beyond rehearsed moves, revealing how survival mode took over during a chaotic shoot nearly two decades ago.

Jennifer Garner details biting a costar’s ear while filming a fight scene

The incident occurred during the filming of the 2007 thriller The Kingdom, in which Garner worked opposite New Zealand-born actor and stunt performer Sala Baker. Speaking at a press conference for Season 2 of The Last Thing He Told Me, Garner said she recently reunited with Baker on set, which brought back memories of their intense earlier collaboration.

According to Garner, the original fight scene in The Kingdom had very little choreography. Director Peter Berg encouraged both performers to fully commit and react naturally. “We did not have a lot of choreography, and he told me to do anything I could to survive,” she recalled in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter.

In the middle of the struggle, Garner said instinct kicked in. She remembered climbing onto Baker’s back and biting his ear, hard enough to leave visible damage. “I bit his ear, and we have a picture of him missing a chunk of ear,” she said. When asked to clarify, Garner compared the moment to Mike Tyson’s infamous 1997 boxing match incident, simply saying, “Like Mike Tyson.”

The intensity didn’t stop there. Garner said that while working again with Baker on The Last Thing He Told Me, they brought the same aggressive energy to their scenes. Crew members reportedly urged caution early in the shoot, but Garner wasn’t interested in dialing it down. “He’s not going to be careful. I’m not going to be careful,” she said, joking that she had “a score to settle.”