Alexander Payne and Sandra Oh Separate

By Chris Gardner

Saturday March 12, 2005 12:00 AM EST

Sandra Oh and Alexander Payne

Chris Pizzello/AP

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Sideways director Alexander Payne and his wife Sandra Oh, who starred in the hit comedy, are separating, PEOPLE has learned.

The Hollywood couple "have mutually decided to separate," a spokeswoman confirmed late Friday through a statement. "They have been together for five years and were married in 2003. The couple will remain friends."

Payne wrote and directed Sideways, the wine country comedy which was nominated for five Oscars. Payne and his writing partner Jim Taylor won the award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Oh starred in the film and is co-starring in the upcoming medical series Grey’s Anatomy.

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Oh and Payne’s separation follows on the heels of a string of splits in Hollywood including Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen, Katie Holmes and Chris Klein and Shannon Elizabeth and Joseph Reitman.