13 celebrity couples who broke up but still had to work together

• All breakups can be difficult, but working with your ex can make the healing process even more challenging.
• Many Hollywood relationships develop on set, making the fallout from the breakup a bit awkward. 
• Despite the end of the romance, some celebrity couples have found a way to work together, and have even channeled their feelings into their work.

Breaking up can be hard to do, particularly when your ex also happens to be your coworker. All you want is to be alone with your favorite pint of ice cream and sappy love story. But instead, you have to deal with all of your feelings while constantly worrying about running into your former flame in the break room.

Maintaining a professional relationship with your ex can be tough for even the best actor. But some folks in Hollywood have managed to put on a united front for the sake of their careers. These celebrities figured out how to work together when their romances fizzled out.

Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson

In 1998, Holmes and Jackson started a real-life romance while working together on season one of "Dawson's Creek." And though their characters, Joey and Pacey, found love on the hit teen drama, Holmes and Jackson's off-screen romance was short-lived.

The two continued to work together on the show until it's finale in 2003, and still maintain a friendship today. Holmes considers Jackson her first love, as she told US Weekly and even called him after her divorce from Tom Cruise.

Charlize Theron and Sean Penn

The Hollywood A-listers had been friends for years before things turned romantic. Penn and Theron started dating in December 2013 while Theron worked on "The Last Face,"  a film Penn directed. Things seemed to be going well. Penn even proposed to Theron on a 2014 Paris trip.

But a year and a half into the relationship, the two called it quits. It's rumored that Theron got cold feet and abruptly called things off. However, she maintains that the breakup was mutual.
"We were in a relationship and then it didn't work anymore. And we both decided to separate," the actress told WSJ Magazine.

And even though their romantic relationship was over, Theron and Penn had to put on a united front to promote their film at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016.

Blake Lively and Penn Badgley

Before she found love with Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively shared an off-screen romance with her on-screen beau, Penn Badgley. The two dated for three years while working together on "Gossip Girl." They tried to keep their relationship on the down low, denying rumors of a romance for fear that it would cause problems at work, as Lively told Vanity Fair.

The two broke up in 2010 but continued to play a couple on the show until it ended in 2012. Their characters, Dan and Serena even got married in the series finale.