Meryl Streep and husband Don Gummer have been separated for six years

Meryl Streep and her husband Don Gummer have been living apart in recent years.

The news was confirmed by a representative for Streep in a statement to People on Saturday.

"Don Gummer and Meryl Streep have been separated for more than 6 years, and while they will always care for each other, they have chosen lives apart," a representative for Streep told the outlet.

CNN has reached out to the actor's publicist for comment.

The three-time Oscar winner and Gummer, a sculptor, first married in 1978. Last month marked their 45th wedding anniversary.

Streep and Gummer were photographed at numerous events together over the years, but largely kept their personal lives out of the press.

"There's no road map on how to raise a family: It's always an enormous negotiation," Streep old Vogue in 2002. "But I have a holistic need to work and to have huge ties of love in my life. I can't imagine eschewing one for the other."

Streep paid tribute to Gummer in her best actress Oscar acceptance speech for her performance in "The Iron Lady" in 2012.

"First, I'm going to thank Don because when you thank your husband at the end of the speech they play him out with the music, and I want him to know that everything I value most in our lives, you've given me," Streep said at the time.

The two are parents of four now-adult children, a son, Henry, and three daughters, Mamie, Grace, and Louisa.