James McAvoy and Anne-Marie Duff are divorcing after nine years of marriage.
The Scottish actor wed the English actress Oct. 18, 2006. They are the parents of one child, 5-year-old son Brendan.
“It is with tremendous sadness that we have come to the decision to divorce,” the former couple said in a joint statement released today. “We enter this next phase with continued friendship, love and respect for one another and the shared focus of caring for our son. We ask that you respect our and, most importantly, our child’s privacy during this time.”
McAvoy, 37, first met Duff, 45, in 2004 on the set of the British TV series “Shameless” in which they played lovers. Two years later, the two wed in a quiet ceremony.
“The world seemed less scary…. And I started to like myself a little bit more,” McAvoy revealed shortly after getting hitched.
However, McAvoy and Duff mostly managed to keep their relationship private. “We don’t talk about each other much, and we don’t turn up together at lots of events,” he said in an interview in 2007. “We both really rejoice in having a normal life.”
“We’re very lucky we are aware of our blessings,” Duff gushed last year. “That helps to remind us to be good people.”
In addition to “Shameless,” the two thespians also worked together on the 2009 film “The Last Station” and have both provided voices for the 2017 BBC One and Netflix animated miniseries “Watership Down.”
The divorce news comes as McAvoy is in the middle of a promotional blitz for his new film “X-Men: Apocalypse.” In the 3-D flick, which opens in U.S. theaters May 27, he reprises the role of Marvel Comics character Charles Xavier/Professor X.
Meanwhile, Duff was last seen in the 2015 British film “Suffragette.” She was nominated for a British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Violet Miller.
