“Everyone at the beginning said, ‘It’s a terrible idea, it’s not gonna work,’ and then you’re, like, 15 years down the road and have raised four kids and you’re like, ‘Really?’”
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Once again, Sam Taylor-Johnson is defending the 23-year age difference between her and husband Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
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Aaron made his movie debut at 10 years old, and eight years later, he auditioned for the lead role in the John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy. It was there, at 18 years old, that he met the film’s director and his now-wife, who was 42 when she gave him the part.
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After filming for Nowhere Boy wrapped in 2009, Aaron marked the one-yearanniversary of their first meeting by asking Sam to marry him. Before their wedding, Sam and Aaron welcomed two daughters together: Wylda and Romy, born in 2010 and 2012, respectively.
Sam already has two kids from a previous marriage, whom Aaron publicly refers to as his daughters. The oldest of Sam’s four children, Angelica, is only six years younger than Aaron.
Sam and Aaron eventually tied the knot in 2012 and have been together ever since. However, it’s no secret that the couple has faced widespread scrutiny surrounding their age difference and the origin of their romance.
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Over the years, Sam and Aaron have addressed the criticism numerous times. In fact, just last month, Sam said during an interview with the Guardian that their age gap isn’t such an issue in their relationship as it is to those outside of it.
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“No, it never does,” she responded when asked if their age difference ever manifests in their day-to-day lives as a couple. “I mean, it’s coming up now because you’re asking. And it comes up on the outside perspective of people who don’t know us.”
“We’re a bit of an anomaly, but it’s that thing: After 14 years, you just think, surely by now, it doesn’t really matter?” the director said.
And now, as she continues to promote her new Amy Winehouse biopic, Back to Black, Sam is doubling down on her stance, saying she finds age gap conversations “strange.”
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During a new interview with Time magazine, Sam was asked about movies centering on “older women married to younger men” and whether that's a subject that interests her. She responded, “Not at all.”
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“I think Aaron would say the same. Neither of us look at each other in that way,” she replied. “It’s just a connection of souls and hearts and our life is our life where we’re just moving through it in a gorgeous loving way.”
“When people make films or talk about it or question it or dissect it, it is so strange to me,” she said of age gaps. “When people fall in love, they fall in love.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Sam discussed the scrutiny that comes with life in the spotlight and revealed that she doesn’t read anything written about her in the media — whether that's movie reviews or commentary about her marriage.
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“It’s totally where madness lies. The thing is, I live my life fairly fearlessly. I literally leap into every challenge with excitement,” she said. “And I think if I read and took note of any of that, I wouldn’t be doing the amazing things I think I’m doing. I wouldn’t make this film. I wouldn’t have been in this amazing relationship for nearly 15 years.”
Referring to her marriage, Sam remembered: “Everyone at the beginning said, ‘It’s a terrible idea, it’s not gonna work,’ and then you’re, like, 15 years down the road and have raised four kids and you’re like, ‘Really?’”
Sam’s new comments come only two months after Aaron last discussed the topic during an interview with Rolling Stone UK, in which he was asked about being “judged about doing things at certain ages.”
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“What you gotta realize is that what most people were doing in their 20s, I was doing when I was 13,” he responded, alluding to his early start in the film industry. “You’re doing something too quickly for someone else? I don’t understand that. What speed are you supposed to enjoy life at? It’s bizarre to me.”
You can read Sam’s full interview with Time magazine here.
- Aaron Taylor Johnson
- Sam Taylor Johnson
- Ellen DurneyBuzzFeed Staff
