Why Scarlett Johansson gave up on marriage

American magazine readers may have voted them respectively Babe of the Year and the Sexiest Man Alive, but Scarlett Johansson and her actor husband Ryan Reynolds did not, it seems, see each other that way. They confirmed yesterday that their two-year marriage is over.

It was reportedly Johansson who pulled the plug. "The big problem with their relationship is the distance," a friend of the couple's told US Weekly. "They spent a lot of time apart when they are working. She's been unhappy for a while."
 
Johansson, the 26-year-old actress star of Lost in Translation and - most recently - Iron Man 2, issued a joint statement with Canadian-born Reynolds on Tuesday. It said: "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. While privacy isn't expected, it's certainly appreciated."

The couple got married in September 2008 in Vancouver after meeting four months earlier. Although 34-year-old Reynolds, who appears in the upcoming movie Green Lantern, said in a recent interview that marriage to Scarlett was "the best part" of his life, the couple were rarely seen together.

Each has a hardcore following. Reynolds got his 'Sexiest Man Alive' title from People magazine while Johansson was voted 'Babe of the Year 2010' by the readers of GQ magazine.

If Johansson needs more of a morale boost than that, she can always ask Woody Allen for a new film role. He has already cast her in Match Point, Scoop and Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and once gushed: "The minute she walks on the set, the amperage goes up 200 points." ·