Ryan Phillippe has come out in a new interview defending Abbie Cornish — who had been accused of coming between Ryan and his wife of seven years, Reese Witherspoon — saying "I had difficulties in my relationship, and my marriage, long before I met her."
The 33-year-old star of the upcoming Iraq War drama Stop-Loss had an in-depth conversation with W magazine, in which he discusses at length the end of his marriage, his relationship with Abbie, his children, and his career.
On his divorce from Reese Witherspoon:
"It was the darkest, saddest place I had ever been. There was a good four or five months of not being able to get out of bed. It was the worst time in my life."
On reports that Abbie was the reason for his divorce:
"It was unfair for her to be called the names that she was, because it wasn't about that. I don't think an outside person can ever cause a divorce. ... (It was) far more complicated and far less interesting than it's made out to be. To look and search for these salacious reasons, to pin it on a person, or a moment in someone's life, it's not realistic."
On how daughter Ava, 8, and son Deacon, 4 handled the split:
"I wanted to take time to make sure that my kids were okay and to build a new life that was going to be suitable to being a single parent. ... (Reese and I) have done a really good job of keeping things peacable and completely focused on (the children)."
