Kate Winslet, 25, is separating from her husband, assistant movie director Jim Threapleton, 27, after less than three years of marriage and less than a year after the birth of their daughter, Mia. "Jim and I have great respect for each other," Winslet told reporters as she emerged from the north London flat where she is currently staying. "There is no malice at all. It is extremely sad but we are all fine. Jim and I are both communicating constantly. Mia remains the happy child that she always has been. That is all, and we would be grateful now if you would respect our privacy." In a statement that was released late on Monday in London, Winslet's spokesman, Robert Garlock, said, "No other parties are involved in this amicable and respectful separation. Their daughter Mia will remain the first priority for both of them." Winslet and Threapleton had met in the fall of 1997 while she was shooting the small film "Hideous Kinky," her follow-up to the colossal "Titanic." As PEOPLE reported in early 1998 (the couple married in November of that same year), Winslet chose the Oscars for the American debut of her then-new boyfriend (and roommate). "He's so dashing," she was quoted as saying back then. "I love him. It's that serious." Winslet often spoke of her determination to put her personal happiness ahead of her professional accomplishments. Last year the couple paid $1.17 million for a rural home in southern England in which to raise Mia.