Skins actress Kaya Scodelario and husband Ben Walker split after eight years but insist they are ‘the best of friends’

HOLLYWOOD star Kaya Scodelario and her US actor husband Benjamin Walker have split after eight years of marriage, The Sun can reveal.

The actress, who famously played Effy in Skins and had a leading role in 2017’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, separated from him last year.

It’s sad news for the couple, who wed in December 2015 and have a son and a daughter together.

When approached for comment, they said in a joint statement: “Some time ago Kaya and Ben made the joint decision to end their marriage but continue to co-parent lovingly whilst remaining the best of friends.

“They ask that their privacy as well as that of their children's remain respected as they continue to move forward as a family.”

The couple have not appeared together in public for over a year and she has recently been pictured without her wedding ring.

This week she jetted off on holiday to the Maldives with two female friends and wrote on Instagram: “Feeling so lucky to go through life with these amazing friends. Normalize going to ‘romantic’ locations with your mates instead…”

They first got together in early 2014 while filming the movie The King’s Daughter.

Their introduction came shortly after Benjamin was granted a divorce from his first wife, Meryl Streep’s actress daughter Mamie Gummer.

Benjamin is best known for a string of Broadway roles and as the High King in Prime Video’s The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings of Power, which Kaya accompanied him to the premiere of in September 2022.

Despite the split, she has a busy year ahead with a starring role in Guy Ritchie's upcoming Netflix series The Gentlemen, which will premiere next month.

It follows the story of a man, played by Theo James, who inherits his estranged family’s estate only to discover it is a weed farm, dragging him into a dark criminal underworld.