Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds have split after two years of marriage

The Hollywood couple ' who married just four months after getting engaged in September 2008 ' released a statement confirming a forthcoming divorce and noted they didn't expect to receive any "privacy" considering their A-list status but were parting on good terms.

The statement read: "After long and careful consideration on both our parts, we've decided to end our marriage.

"We entered our relationship with love and it's with love and kindness we leave it."

Sources have claimed the pair split as long as six months ago with the 26-year-old actress house hunting in New York, although the couple were on friendly terms when they were seen together at New York nightclub Avenue in November.

A source told UsMagazine.com: "They are being very civil about it. The big problem with their relationship is the distance. They spent a lot of time apart when they are working. She's been unhappy for a while."

Scarlett and 34-year-old Ryan married in a quiet ceremony in his native Vancouver, in Canada, with just close family and she later admitted the wedding was a moment of "privacy".

She said: "It was my mission to have a moment of privacy, to do something for myself. I was happy with the result of that."