Kristen Bell: 'We should celebrate Anna Faris and Chris Pratt's marriage'

Frozen star Kristen Bell has urged gossips and fans to celebrate the years Anna Faris and her husband Chris Pratt had together before their shock split.

The stars announced they had separated after eight years of marriage on Monday (07Aug17), stunning fans who had no idea the once happy couple were struggling to stay together.

The Guardians of the Galaxy actor, who shares four-year-old son Jack with Anna, took to his Facebook page to share the sad news in an official statement, writing: "Anna and I are sad to announce we are legally separating. We tried hard for a long time, and we’re really disappointed. Our son has two parents who love him very much and for his sake we want to keep this situation as private as possible moving forward.

"We still have love for each other, will always cherish our time together and continue to have the deepest respect for one another."

Anna shared the post on her Twitter page, but dropped "and continue to have the deepest respect for one another", suggesting the split is acrimonious.

But Bell has urged Hollywood watchers to stop speculating about why the couple split - and congratulate them for trying to make a Hollywood marriage work.

"The reality is when you're working in this industry, you're sometimes shooting a movie in China for four months," she tells E! News. "You're away from your family for four months. I think it's more the separation than anything that can weigh on people.

"The truth is, it's really hard. You should say, 'Oh, they tried. But that doesn't discount the lovely years they had together'."

The actress, who is married to Dax Shepard, insists all marriages are hard work, and Hollywood unions are tougher than most: "I love my husband, and I love my marriage, but it is very hard, and we work at it. We go to couples therapy. We make sure that we're talking with respect to each other. When we sit down to have a disagreement, it's a disagreement, not an argument.

"If I ever get divorced, I'm still going to be like, 'Wow, I loved being married to that man!'"