TORONTO — After weeks of public speculation about the state of their marriage — and a day after their 10th anniversary — Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner announced Tuesday they are getting a divorce.
“We go forward with love and friendship for one another and a commitment to co-parenting our children,” Garner and Affleck said in a joint statement.
“This will be our only comment on this private, family matter.”
Affleck, 42, and Garner, 43, appeared in 2001’s Pearl Harbor and co-starred in 2003’s Daredevil.
They were engaged in early 2005 and, on June 29 of that year, tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in Turks and Caicos officiated by Canadian actor (and Garner’s former Alias co-star) Victor Garber.
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The Associated Press cited an unnamed source as saying the couple will co-parent their children Violet, 9, Seraphina, 6, and Samuel, 3.
In May, Garner told Yahoo Parenting about how becoming parents affected their marriage.
“You have to just hang in there while you figure it out — and have a lot of patience for each other.”
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Garner also opened up about marriage in an interview last October with InStyle.
“You can’t expect to be courted all the time, and I don’t want to court him right now – I don’t have the energy!
“But we’re definitely in a very mindful place where we’re making an effort to be together, do things at the same time, and be loving.”
But, rumours of a split have been swirling for some time. In April, Affleck was spotted by himself in Nova Scotia without his wedding ring.
The couple’s marital woes have also made the covers of celebrity weeks in recent weeks:
Garner’s four-year marriage to actor Scott Foley ended in 2004.
In 2012, Garner said her first divorce was “a crushing experience.”
Britain’s The Sun quoted the actress as saying the end of her marriage to Foley was devastating.
“I thought the divorce statistics would never apply to me,” she said. “I was beyond heartbroken when they did.”
Affleck was previously engaged to Jennifer Lopez but their 18-month relationship ended in 2004 after tabloids alleged he had a fling with strippers in Vancouver, where he was making 2003’s Paycheck.
Affleck won a screenwriting Oscar for 1997’s made-in-Toronto drama Good Will Hunting and directed the Oscar-winning Argo in 2012. He also directed 2007’s Gone, Baby Gone and 2010’s The Town.
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His long list of acting credits include duds like Gigli and Surviving Christmas and hits like The Sum of All Fears and Gone Girl.
Affleck will play the Bruce Wayne/Batman in next year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and the Toronto-shot Suicide Squad.
After playing Sydney Bristow for five seasons on Alias, Garner made the jump to the big screen with roles in 13 Going on 30, Juno, The Invention of Lying, Elektra and Dallas Buyers Club.
Her latest project is the Montreal-shot Nine Lives opposite Toronto’s Robbie Amell.
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