Ryan Phillipe: On The Record About His Split With Reese

Ryan Phillipe has gone on record about his divorce with Reese Witherspoon.

In a new interview with W magazine, the actor called his split with the “Legally Blonde” actress “as typical as any relationship that doesn’t work,” he said. “It’s far more complicated and far less interesting than it’s made out to be.”

Phillipe and Witherspoon split in 2006, with their divorce being finalized last fall.

When the two stars parted ways, a host of tabloid stories followed, something Phillipe said he understood — though didn’t appreciate.

“I certainly understand the level of interest that comes along with a public marriage,” he told W. “And with being married to someone like Reese, who so many people love with good reason. People want answers. But I think sometimes they wouldn’t be happy with what the answers would be.”

One reason many of the papers blamed his split on was Phillipe’s relationship with his “Stop Loss” co-star, Australian actress Abbie Cornish. The two were rumored to have been romantically involved on set, something Phillipe refused to comment on.

“First of all, I wouldn’t answer that, but I would say that things are never as simple as it’s made out to be in the tabloid press. It was unfair for her to be called the names that she was, because it wasn’t about that,” he said. “I don’t think an outside person can ever cause a divorce. I had difficulties in my relationship and in my marriage, long before I ever met her.”

In recent months, photographs have caught Phillipe, on at least one occasion, spending time with his children and Cornish, leading many to believe the two are, presently at least, involved.

“She and I are close friends, and as far as if there is any future, that is not where we are at now,” Phillipe said. “That is what other people like to say or like to assume. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a friendship, and we are getting to know each other in a really difficult situation.”

If he sounds cautious, it appears to be with good reason. Phillipe said he can’t even go out because of the attention that follows him.

“I spend a lot of my time just holed up in my house in Los Angeles. I ‘m thinking of leaving here because of that,” he said. “I don’t really go out because I know it’s going to turn into a photo shoot.”

From father to daughter – Phillipe told the magazine, his eldest child, daughter Ava with Witherspoon, is affected by the paparazzi.

“It definitely does a number on my eight-year-old daughter. To hear her say that she worries about what she’s wearing when she leaves the house because she knows her picture will be taken — She’s worried about friends at school who come up to her and say they see her in the magazines,” he said. “It’s a really disturbing environment to bring up a child in. You don’t know that when you are in your early 20s and you have your first kid. You don’t know how ugly it can get.”