Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
Actress Kate Winslet and director Sam Mendes seemed to have it all figured out. Married seven years, the couple spoke glowingly of each other in interviews and acceptance speeches, but otherwise kept their marriage low-key and private. Their careers complemented each other. But now that Mendes, 44, and Winslet, 34, have announced their separation, we're all asking: What went wrong?
Mendes and Winslet have made no comments beyond the official statement, which said that the split was "entirely amicable." (Is any divorce ever entirely amicable?) But friends say that the couple's problems started -- or at least, came to a head -- when Mendes directed Winslet in the 2008 film Revolutionary Road.
Revolutionary Road, about a '50s suburban couple whose marriage implodes, marked the first time that Winslet and Mendes worked on a film together... and perhaps the subject matter hit a little too close to home. Upon the film's release, Mendes told reporters that he and Winslet were "very happy, but obviously there is a cathartic aspect of making a movie about a bad marriage." Winslet admitted that there was some awkwardness during shooting, especially while working on sex scenes with her close friend and former Titanic love interest Leonardo DiCaprio. "I just kept saying, 'This is too weird.' Leo told me to get over it, but I said, 'You're my best friend and he's my husband. This is definitely a bit weird.'"
And their troubles didn't end on set; People unearthed a quote from Mendes that hinted at difficulties in their working-living relationship. "I tend to cut off at the end of the day and watch a baseball game or something. I don't like to bring work home," the director said. "Kate is the opposite. So I just had to change my ways because it's what she needed..."
Winslet is dodging the gossip by vacationing in Mexico with her two children, Joe, 6 (her son with Mendes), and Mia, 9.
PHOTOS: Gone to Splitsville: Star Breakups
Do you think working together can tear a couple apart? Chime in below!
