Eight months after her highly-publicized split from husband Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner is finally speaking out about the end of her marriage.

Garner, who graces Vanity Fair's March cover, broke her silence on the subject in a wide-ranging interview with the magazine, admitting that she still looks back on her relationship with Affleck fondly -- and would still choose to marry him if given the chance for a do-over.

"I didn't marry the big fat movie star; I married him," the actress told VF. " [...] He's the love of my life. What am I going to do about that? He's the most brilliant person in any room, the most charismatic, the most generous. He's just a complicated guy. I always say, 'When his sun shines on you, you feel it.' But when the sun is shining elsewhere, it's cold. He can cast quite a shadow."

That shadow included the scandal that rocked tabloids last summer, when it was revealed that Affleck was having an affair with the couple's nanny. Garner insisted, however, that that relationship played no role in the dissolution of her marriage ("We had been separated for months before I ever heard about the nanny," she told the magazine), and that she and Affleck were doing their best to remain friendly for the sake of their three children.

"We still have to help each other get through this. He's still the only person who really knows the truth about things. And I'm still the only person that knows some of his truths," she told VF. " ... No one needs to hate him for me. I don't hate him. Certainly we don't have to beat the guy up. Don't worry—my eyes were wide open during the marriage."

Of course, Vanity Fair couldn't resist asking Garner about Affleck's now-infamous new ink, a giant tattoo of a phoenix stretched across his entire back. Yes, the tattoo is very much real, and yes, Garner finds it ridiculous, though she was much more diplomatic than the internet commentariat when discussing her ex's new addition. Here's the scoop from the magazine:

One thing is for sure: she refuses to claim responsibility for the midlife-crisis tattoo—the rising phoenix—that takes up her estranged husband's entire back, as seen in photographs. "You know what we would say in my hometown about that? 'Bless his heart.' A phoenix rising from the ashes. Am I the ashes in this scenario?" Garner says with a wink.

"I take umbrage. I refuse to be the ashes."

Bless his heart, indeed. And bless Garner for remaining such a good sport about everything.

The whole interview is worth a read. Check it out over on Vanity Fair's site.

[h/t Go Fug Yourself]

Photo credit: Getty Images