James McAvoy And Anne-Marie Duff Are Divorcing

They stayed together for nine years, but now, they have announced their divorce.

James McAvoy, a Scottish actor, married Anne-Marie Duff, an English actress, on Oct 18, 2006. They got a son, Brendan, who is now five years old.

"It is with tremendous sadness that we have come to the decision to divorce," the former couple said in a joint statement 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."

The 37-year-old actor met the 45-year-old actress 2004 on the sets of the British TV series "Shameless". They played lovers in the series and then translated it into real life when they married in a quiet ceremony two years later.

"The world seemed less scary.... And I started to like myself a little bit more," McAvoy revealed just after they got married.

Still, they remained fairly "private" in their lives. "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."

Apart from "Shameless," they also worked on the 2009 film "The Last Station. They also let their voices for the 2017 BBC One and Netflix animated "Watership Down."

Currently, McAvoy is promoting his new film "X-Men: Apocalypse." He is role-playing Marvel Comics character Charles Xavier/Professor X in a 3-D movie, which will be launched in U.S. theaters on May 27.

Duff portrayed Violet Miller in the 2015 British film "Suffragette," in which she was nominated for a British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actress.