Jennifer Garner is returning to the small screen.
The Alias grad has been tapped to star in Camping, HBO's eight-episode, straight-to-series comedy from Girls duo Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner. Camping is described as a limited series. Production will begin in the spring in L.A.
Written and exec produced by Dunham and Konner, the series revolves around Kathryn, who will be played by Garner in her first TV role since Alias wrapped its five-season run on ABC in 2006. The series kicks off on Walt's (uncast) 45th birthday, which was supposed to be a delightful weekend back to nature, at least according to his obsessively organized and aggressively controlling wife, Kathryn. But when the camping trip gathers Kathryn's meek sister, holier than thou ex-best friend and a free-spirited tagalong in one place, it becomes a weekend of tested marriages and woman-on-woman crime that won't soon be forgotten. Plus, bears.
Garner's Kathryn Siddell-Bauers is described as a controlling L.A. mom who is far less cheerful than her Lululemons imply. She controls the proceedings with an iron grip until she's faced with a woman who undoes all her best laid plans. Konner and Dunham describe the part as "messy, tough and provocative and really, really fun."
"We love Jennifer's restraint and comedic timing, and we can't wait for the warmth and intelligence she'll bring to our central character, Kathryn. It's truly a dream to have her first on our call sheet. Now we just have to write her some stunts," Konner and Dunham said in a joint statement. It's unclear if Dunham will have any sort of an onscreen role in Camping.
Camping marks the first TV series follow-up for Dunham and Konner since Girls ended its critically praised six-season run on HBO last year. Dunham and Konner will exec produce for their HBO-based A Casual Romance banner. Julia Davis, who wrote and directed the 2016 Sky Atlantic series, exec produces for Hush Ho. Christine Langan exec produces for Baby Cow Productions, who produced Camping. Ilene S. Landress is also credited as an EP.
Garner, who has been focused on feature films since J.J. Abrams' Alias wrapped, will next be seen in Love, Simon, from director Greg Berlanti. She's currently in production on Lakeshore/STX feature Peppermint, set for release this year. Her feature credits include Dallas Buyers Club, Wakefield and Broadway's Roxanne. She's repped by CAA, Management 360 and Sloane Offer.
Garner signing on to Camping comes days after HBO handed out a straight-to-series order to Demimonde, the first script Abrams has written since he co-created Fringe and wrote Alias. The duo will now both be housed at the premium cable network.
Camping joins an HBO comedy roster that also includes Bill Hader's Barry, Crashing, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Divorce, Room 104 and the upcoming final season of Veep.
Dunham and Konner are repped by UTA.
