Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner split after 10 years of marriage

Film stars Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are divorcing after 10 years of marriage and three children.

"After much thought and careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to divorce," the couple said in a statement yesterday, one day after their anniversary. "We go forward with love and friendship for one another and a commitment to co-parenting our children whose privacy we ask to be respected during this difficult time. This will be our only comment on this private, family matter. Thank you for understanding."

Rumors of a split had been dogging the couple for some time. Affleck 42, and Garner, 43, have two daughters, Violet, 9, and Seraphina, 6, and a son, Samuel, 3. This was Affleck's first marriage. Garner wed actor Scott Foley in October 2000 after the two met when she appeared on his show "Felicity" in 1998. She filed for divorce in May 2003, and it was finalized in March 2004.

She and Affleck -- who has won Academy Awards for screenwriting and as a producer of "Argo" -- also met on-set, starring together in the 2003 superhero movie "Daredevil." Affleck played the title role and Garner his ninja-assassin love interest and sometime-nemesis Elektra, a role she reprised in "Elektra" (2005).

They began dating several months after Affleck called off his engagement to singer-actress Jennifer Lopez in January 2004, after an 18-month relationship. Affleck and Garner married on June 29, 2005, at the Parrot Cay resort in Turks & Caicos, when they were expecting their first child. They were wed by Garner's "Alias" co-star, Victor Garber, who told "The View" the following year he was also the only other person present. "I officiated because it was a private thing and because they asked me as a friend," he said. "There is a website you can go to get ordained for one occasion, for one ceremony." He added, "I was so honored and they are so happy."