Aaron Taylor-Johnson Speaks Out About Age Gap with Wife
Fans of Kick-Ass likely fell in love with Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the main character of the film right around the time his now wife was falling in love with him as well. He was 18 at the time, and she was 42. They married 4 years later, and the world seemingly lost its mind over the age gap. Now, 15 years later, the actor is finally speaking out about the fascination and criticism, referring to it as, “bizarre.”
Aaron-Taylor Johnson Grew Up In Hollywood
Aaron Taylor-Johnson has been in the acting game since he was just six years old. His parents are reportedly not “showbiz parents,” as his father was a civil engineer, and his mother worked part-time jobs, taking him on several auditions a week and chaperoning him on set. The actor finally landed his first major role alongside Jackie Chan when he was 10 and fought his way through roles both good and bad until his big break in Kick-Ass eight years later.
Meeting His Wife On Set
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone UK to promote his upcoming films, Kraven the Hunter and Fall Guy, the British actor talks about how he grew up fast from a young age. By the time he was 15, he had left school, resenting his teachers for telling him what to do. He was, by his account, an old soul, eager to prove himself and get out into the world, even through difficult times. Around the same time Kick-Ass was released, Aaron Taylor Johnson began filming a John Lennon biopic called Nowhere Boy, which happened to be the directorial debut of 42-year-old Samantha Taylor-Wood.
A Happily Married Couple
The now-married couple swears that nothing romantic happened between them while filming, but Aaron Taylor-Johnson proposed to Sam just a year later, with Aaron moving in and co-parenting Sam’s two teenage daughters. Aaron and Sam welcomed their first daughter when Aaron was 20 and their second daughter when he was 22, the same year Aaron and Sam finally tied the knot.
Taylor-Johnson Defends His Marriage
Understandably, fans of Aaron were confused, bewildered, and even outraged. This age gap of more than two decades felt strongly like what we call “grooming” today. The thinking goes that this grown woman with two young adult daughters preyed on a young boy, still very much a child, grooming him to be her pet of sorts. In the interview, he disputes this vision of him as a naive boy.
“What you gotta realize… is that what most people were doing in their twenties, I was doing when I was 13… You’re doing something too quickly for someone else? I don’t understand that. What speed are you supposed to enjoy life at?” In short, he credits his ability to love and marry a woman 24 years his senior as a byproduct of growing up quickly and being mature for his age.
An Adoring Couple
What the “truth” is is anyone’s guess. Look at pictures of Aaron Taylor-Johnson and his wife out and about and he looks the part of an adoring husband. Christina Newland, the Rolling Stone UK journalist who interviewed the actor, says, “The more you get to know Aaron Taylor-Johnson, the more it makes sense that this is a man with four daughters and a farm full of animals to look after.” She goes on to say, “there is a gentle energy that emanates from the actor.”
Always A Joy To See Aaron Taylor-Johnson On Screen
There is certainly something that has fans coming back for more, whether we’re hungering for him as “warm wood” in Savages or wincing through his fight scenes in Bullet Train. It is always a pleasant surprise to watch him on screen, as it has been since he played a pimply teenager fighting for justice in his neighborhood in Kick-Ass. Of course, we can see what Sam Taylor-Johnson saw in him because we see it too.
Raise your hand if you’re hoping he’ll show up on screen as the next James Bond.
