Naomi Watts and her longtime partner Liev Schreiber have separated after 11 years and two children together.

The Australian actress and her American actor beau announced the sad news in a statement to People magazine.

“Over the past few months we’ve come to the conclusion that the best way forward for us as a family is to separate as a couple,” they said.

“It is with great love, respect, and friendship in our hearts that we look forward to raising our children together and exploring this new phase of our relationship.”

Watts, 47, and Schreiber, 48, are parents to sons Alexander (Sasha) Pete Schreiber, 8, and Samuel Kai Schreiber, 7.

“While we appreciate your curiosity and support, we ask the press to be mindful of our children and respect their right to privacy,” the statement concluded.

The pair have been together since 2005, when they met at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual Met Gala in New York.

Watts told Allure magazine she was immediately attracted to Schreiber and made the bold move of giving him her number.

“It was a lot more ballsy than I would ever normally be,” she said.

“Normally I want a guy to make the first move, and he wasn’t.”

“I said, ‘Don’t you want my digits?’ Because I couldn’t possibly say, ‘Would you like my phone number?'” she recalled.

“It made him laugh … He texted me five minutes later saying, ‘Would you like to go for a drink now?’ And I said, ‘No, I’ll meet you for breakfast tomorrow’.”

They never married, for reasons Schreiber told Vulture in 2013 were “complicated … and private too”.

Earlier this year, Watts told Los Angeles Confidential her relationship with Schreiber was not easy despite their glamorous life.

“Relationships are hard whether you’re famous or not. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have to work on it. Being an actor doesn’t change anything,” she said.