Justin Theroux calls split with Jennifer Aniston a ‘gentle separation’

Justin Theroux is opening up about his split from Jennifer Aniston for the first time, in a new interview with The New York Times.

Theroux and Aniston announced they were parting ways in February, after two and a half years of marriage and seven years together. In a statement at the time, they two referred to each other as “best friends” and said they planned to continue their “cherished friendship.”

Seven months later, the 47-year-old explained, “The good news is that was probably the most — I’m choosing my words really carefully — it was kind of the most gentle separation, in that there was no animosity… In a weird way, just sort of navigating the inevitable perception of it is the exhausting part.”

Theroux also shared a bit about what caused the two to separate in their marriage. “These are actually in reality small events that take place,” he explained. “But everything can feel like 10 on the Richter scale if you make the headline big enough and salacious enough.”

He called the split “amicable” and “boring,” explaining “neither one of us is looking to throw hatchets at each other.” He also added that the mutual respect the two have for one another made it “as painless as it could be.”

However, a split is a split, and the “Leftovers” star did say that moving on from Aniston was “heartbreaking” — just not in the way one would expect.

“Only in the sense that the friendship would not be the same, as far as just the day to day,” he said. “But the friendship is shifting and changing, you know, so that part is something that we’re both very proud of.”

As for his dating life today, Theroux stayed mum, saying, “Is this the part where I coyly raise an eyebrow and not answer the question?”