These are some photos of newlyweds Aaron Johnson and Sam Taylor Wood… only now they are Aaron Taylor Johnson and Sam Taylor Johnson. I love it when dudes change their name when they get married! So feminist. Sam and Aaron wlked the red carpet together in London last night for the big premiere of Anna Karenina. Aaron plays Vronsky, Anna’s wanton lover. He’s blonde in the film. As we’ve discussed before, Aaron is a mere 22 years old, and Sam is 45 years old. She has two older daughters from her first marriage and then she and Aaron have two girls together, Wylda Rae (3 years old) and Romy Hero (about eight months old). We’ve discussed the weirdness/fascination of this couple, this family before, but rarely have we really heard from Aaron about what he thinks about the drastic changes his life has gone through over the past five years (because they got together when he was only 18 years old). Aaron had a long interview with The Guardian a few days ago, and he surprised me by being very open and matter-of-fact about… well, everything. You can read the whole piece here, and here are some highlights:
Aaron was filming Anna Karenina and Oliver Stone’s Savages at the same time: “I was filming Savages while I was doing AK, so it was tough at times to adjust,” says Aaron, still sounding a bit shellshocked. AK stands for Anna Karenina, Joe Wright’s highly stylised adaptation of Tolstoy’s classic novel. “I rehearsed AK, then went off to LA to shoot Savages for two and a half months, then came back to London. It was all a bit crazy,” he elaborates.
Dance lessons for AK: “I only had a day or two of dance lessons,” says Aaron, sounding a little peeved. “The rest of them had f–king six weeks.”
Playing Vronsky: “I’m kind of like the typical blond in the movie,” he says endearingly. “It’s a golden age, and I’m this dashing blond young officer in a white uniform. It’s a study in privilege, really. That was all Joe’s vision, and I played around with it a bit, but there wasn’t much of a character arc. It’s her journey. You don’t really need anyone else’s. I’m really there as an actor to serve the director and the script.”
Working with Joe Wright (director of AK) & Oliver Stone: “They are both obsessives in their own way,” he says, having given the question some considerable thought, shifting incessantly in his seat. “Savages, though, was probably the toughest shoot I’ve been on so far. Oliver is smart and he’s edgy. He doesn’t give you a moment to take a breath. I felt I was being challenged every day, and not just me, but Benicio and John (Travolta). He treated everyone the same, but it comes out of passion. In one of the press conferences John said that he was on us like a hawk every day, and that about nails it. He certainly made me think differently about acting.”
The changes in his personal life: “God, yeah,” he says, brushing his hands though his straggly mane of hair. “I was just thinking this morning about all that. I made Kick-Ass just before I started working on Nowhere Boy, and now here I am on Kick-Ass 2 and I’m married and a father. It’s such a major change, but to tell the truth I never think about it much. It just feels natural to me.”
Did he fall in love with Sam on the set of Nowhere Boy? “Well, you know, kind of. Maybe. I mean, it must have helped that we already had a brilliant connection as actor and director.” (Simon Hattenstone of the Guardian visited the set and wrote: “Whenever the rain comes, she runs inside the house, arm in arm with 19-year-old Aaron Johnson, who plays Lennon. They dance and laugh like teenagers in love. I’ve never been on a film set with such a strange atmosphere. While the rest of the cast and crew are welcoming, Taylor-Wood and Johnson seem oblivious to the world.”)
Having a public romance: “It shaped and changed our world quite quickly, because we were both strong and stayed by each other’s side,” he says. “We didn’t listen to publicists who said things like: ‘If you go out to events, make sure you take separate cars. Don’t be seen together.’ All that crap. I won’t mention any names, but further up the line you see bigger actors playing those sorts of games. We never wanted to. We did what we felt was right.”
Working with his wife again: “Right now it’s more about what Sam’s doing next,” he says, refusing to be drawn on specifics. “There is a feature being developed with a lot of more of her imprint on it. You get to a point and you want to try something new. That’s what life is all about: trying new things and having fun.” When I ask if it might not be difficult working with one’s wife: “No. It’s all I want to do, really.”
Being a child actor, never going home: ” At school I’d never talk about my other life. If anyone asked me, I’d just say I was away somewhere. I never felt comfortable talking about that acting, and the kids I was around didn’t give a f–k about that world. All the stuff I was learning on set didn’t apply at school. I haven’t been back there [home] in about six years. I still see it as a place I wanted to escape from. I get on fine with my mum and dad, but if they want to see the grandchildren, they come to me.” Has he stayed in touch with any friends from there? “No, I haven’t got any friends from where I grew up, but that’s not to do with fame. I moved on from there years ago. I have good friends now, both from Sam’s world and my world. We’re a close-knit family with a close-knit circle of friends. That’s the way it is and it’s just fine.”
On his wife calling him an “old soul”: “I guess so. And she’s a young spirit. We complement each other, for sure, both in our work and on an everyday level. She pushes and inspires me, and I hope I do the same for her.”
Her friends have become his friends: “Well, all her good friends have become my friends, but I don’t come from a world where art was a big thing. I never really knew that world until I met her.”
He’s the same age as Kristen Stewart. And Emma Watson. And Taylor Swift. I’m not sure what my point of those comparisons would be… but it’s interesting. Swifty infantilizes herself, Kristen is begging us to infantilize her, and Emma will probably hindered by the public’s collective inability to see her as anything but the young Hermione. And there’s Aaron Johnson, the same age, already a father of two (and stepfather of two), a husband and an in-demand actor with an assortment of artsy friends and colleagues. Can’t there be a happy medium between “too mature for 22” and “22 going on 13”?
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I can’t help but really like him. I’m not sure why.
Exactly! he seems to have an excellent karma. More seriously, he’s got brains this one.
I agree I like him too, and I’m starting to like them together, still slightly creeped out by the whole start of the relationship but they seem solid now.
Totally with you on this one–I like him a lot. He’s really quite good on-screen, and was excellent in “Nowhere Boy”.
It will be interesting to see what he does with his career as he ages. He seems very mature right now, so hopefully, will be able to take on more challenging roles and become a strong serious actor.
And they say girls are supposed to mature faster than boys. Ha. Those girls mentioned above can take maturity lessons from this one.
Weird!!!
He’s very hot and does seem mature for his age and they seem to love each other.
However, I can’t help but think that if roles were reversed and that a 22 y.o woman was going on about how “his friends are now my friends”, that she doesn’t interact with her family or old friends anymore; we’d all be raising eyebrows. Just saying. I hope they last the distance now that there are children involved.
This so much^^ I thought I was the only person to be creeped out by the fact that all her friends are his and he has no contact with anyone from his home town anymore. Sure people grow and change, especially in late teens/twenties but he just seems isolated from everything and everyone he knew before he met her.
If this was a young woman with an older man I think a lot of people would be thinking it was an emotionally unhealthy, domineering type of relationship.
agree with both of you..
Yeah. I hope they’re happy, but some red flags are there.
This! to the above ^.
Yes, my thought exactly. It was creepy how they described how giddy she was with him during the filming of Nowhere Boy. Pretty unprofessional to ignore everyone else in your film!
I also though it was odd when asked about the changes in his personal life he said “I don’t think about it much.” It’s like he’s just going with the flow in a trance or daze, maybe. And I can’t help but feel he will wake up one day and find it’s all too much.
I do wish them the best but part of me is skeptical about this relationship going the distance.
I agree. It’s alarming and creepy.
I was thinking the same thing. I reread it 3 times and just kept saying that it doesn’t seem right and yes creepy.
Add me into the “this sounds really creepy” crew. I can’t believe the way Lainey gushes over them after this interview. It sounds like his wife has made him her perfect “Frankenstein” husband creature; very Svengali.
Well, now that you put it that way..it does seem a bit “off”.
When I initially read his comments about his childhood I got the distinct impression that he grew up in a bad area around not-so-nice people. Does anybody know about his background?
Maybe he just wanted to get the eff away from all that. It almost sounds like she provides a protective, safe environment for him-something he didn’t have growing up.
@TheOriginalKitten: I don’t know what his background /family life was like.
The comment about not growing up in an artistic environmet makes me think that he was just a kid that was dazzled by an older, more sophisticated woman and her arty friends. He sounds like someone who has low self esteem and she probably saw that in him and started filling his head and making him feel special. She was probably filling his head with compliments, making him feel like he is so different from the people in his hometown/family. This story sounds too much like the ones I hear about young girls that have low self esteem, who get with older men that make them feel special but are really manipulative and skeevy underneath all of their charm and sophistcation.
It’s not uncommon for one partner to assimilate into the other person’s life. I know a lot of relationships where they hang with one person’s friends.
You can tell me whatever you want, but I cannot stand this woman. She stole his youth and she seems just so creepy to me. She lets him get her pregnant so young so he has to stay. Maybe not now , but he will regret it later on.
I think I’m starting to agree with you…especially when I try to imagine one of my sons getting together with a 40-something while still a teen. I’d be beside myself!
I would be horrified if it happened to my son as well.
@Birdie, I don’t fully agree. Their age difference is extreme, but in my experience, if a guy doesn’t want to be there, he’s not going to be there. I met someone when I was 39 who was 24. We stayed together for about two years and ultimately the children-issue caused our break-up (not marriage – he wanted to marry me), but I regret nothing. We were honest and loved each other very much. He was sweet and caring and loving, and open to it all. I didn’t try to ensnare him or force him into something. He pursued ME actually. And, there was something refreshing about him – he hadn’t accumulated years of being hurt or jerked around like most of us in our 30s. Life is fleeting, and so is the opportunity to love someone. I wish them a lot of happiness.
Totally agree with you, and your story is really and truely beautiful.
@lafairy – thank you. I met him randomly when my mother was recovering from surgery – she almost died. I was coming home late one night after a rough visit and he started talking to me. And he actually looked a lot like Aaron with the hair and eyes. It’s been almost 5 years, but I’ll always think of him as an angel who came to me during a really difficult period. 🙂
@Esmom – agree with you.
@NYC girl, I hear you. I believe a relationship can transcend an age difference and I also agree about younger men being refreshingly un-cynical about love.
But I also think that your ex being 24 vs. 19 is a huge difference. Aaron is only 22 and already the father of two and the stepfather of two more! That complicates things, imo. A lot.
I saw Aaron in Savages a few weeks ago, and thought he was pretty good — not Oscar-worthy, but a solid performance. He was awesome in Kick-Ass. The early reviews for AK have not been the best where he’s concerned; one reviewer said he was too young and callow to play Vronsky with any conviction. I’ll see it anyways, ’cause I’m a sucker for big skirts, corsets and crinolines. I don’t know what to think about the whole early marriage thing. I know a couple of dudes who married young (19 and 23) and had children right away. Both are now in their forties, and both are very happy. Then again, they married women their ages.
Agree with the comments about Emma, Taylor and Kristen, although I think Emma has a good chance of breaking free of Hermione with Perks of Being a Wallflower. Certainly, of the three, she seems to be the most level-headed.
if he’s happy,i’m happy for him and his family
I don’t think I could be with someone so much younger than me, but that’s me not them. Considering the divorce rate, I don’t see why they couldn’t have the same chance as any other couple.
A more important question is what the heck is up with his pants in those photos?!
Yeah, those pants they look like they have a draw string…very classy.
Same. He’s adorable and the curls and British accent always make me swoon. I loved the Lainey write up about their relationship, essentially is Sam building her own version of a perfect man and is that such a bad thing? He needs a tailor.
I just gush @ this guy. I really feel like they share a deep passion & understanding. I wish them both the best but can’t help be alittle jel of her!
+1. Not judging here. And I’m also a little jealous of her 🙁
I’m sorry…I agree with the posters who have said this is just “creepy”. She was his director, and more than twice his age. If this was a man director “shtupping” a teenage actress, everyone would be up in arms. My son is 23 and if he brought home this woman (especially aat 19) I would freak out!
And didn’t some people just freak out over Rupert Sanders and Kristen Stewart for the same reasons? He’s forty-something, she’s 22, he was her director, and the whole mess was Fifty Shades of Inappropriate. How come Sam Johnston gets a pass?
@Booboocita – Exactly!!! (love your name lol)
The difference, she had an affair with a married man with children. Women always react harshly to cheaters, regardless of age.
Some decades ago it was pretty normal for 22-years-old man to be a husband and a father.My own father was 24 whan I was born.I have the feeling that in the beginning of the 90’s came the prolonged adolescence, combined with lowered expectations and nowadays it’s generally admirable if someone is “mature for his/her age” – means he/she’s under 30 and doing fine.
Yes, but usually not with a woman who is just more than double his age.
Ok, I want to clear something up because I know it’s coming, if it hasn’t already…
The whole “girls mature faster than boys thing” is a myth.
Girls mature faster physically but by the time both genders hit puberty they mature at the same time.
Now this is only physically.
Mentally they mature at the same time.
I just wanted to clear that up because I see that lie being passed around as truth far too often.
And it’s very harmful to young girls.
Completely agree.
Also, we have to factor in social expectations. Girls are expected to be responsible and ‘mature’ at an early age, whereas the whole ‘boys will be boys’ nonsense allows boys a much more extended adolescence. I once worked in a part of the Middle East where women are expected to do virtually nothing for themselves, and it was notable how much less mature girls (and women) were than their male counterparts.
It’s all to do with what your society asks of you.
It’s emotional maturity, not ‘mental’ [i assume you mean psychological?] Emotional maturity is where girls tend to mature mire quickly or earlier. Obv. that’s prob not just biological [though I can and do believe it can be hardwired based on human survival and cultures over the millenia-same way that women multitask better than men-on average obv. not across the board]. Women are required to have multiple relationships, historically; men, not so much. Women have learned to deal with emotions and caring for others, typically from a much earlier age than men. Even today, in very modern cultures, you still find this-girls taking care of siblings and relatives, neighbors’ children, etc. I did this growing up-though I loved it and always wanted to babysit-so it was my choice in a way, but also a role given to me.
Perhaps in current young generations, we are seeing a shift to more balanced gender roles all around-so emotional maturity will be seen to progress at relatively the same rate.
Hasn’t anyone seen “Harold and Maude”? Now THERE’S an age difference-lol
Anyway, he could just as readily be using her for her access to the world he’s always idolized or been intrigued by….or for the family he said he ‘never had an wishes he did’ [and does have now]. But he’s said that himself….it’s a two way street-though the onus is on her as far as adults being able to separate their desires and projections enough to see the long term consequences….
Anyway, they love their children and even if the marriage does not make it, I suspect they will still be a happy family….meh.
It just doesn’t seem that dramatic to me.
I think he was already going down this road professionally, as far as his acting and talent-and this relationship probably enhance that.
Think of the experiences he’ll be able to bring to his roles! Oh yea, he probably would’ve matured as an actor more if he’d had more time to party, get drunk, visit strip clubs, date around and ‘be a kid’ longer, right? [eye roll]
I like them together. Sometimes, you just fall in love, whether they’re “too old for you” or the “wrong” religion or whatever. They seem pretty mad about one another, and it’s lovely.
What’s not lovely: his ill-fitting suit. I think he borrowed it from his 6’4″, 240lb brother.
Regarding the last sentence: I don’t think he’s “too mature for 22”. It sounds as if he’s where he should be based on his development and personality. If he were to slow down his maturity or deny it, that would serve only to hinder him and keep him from being how he truly is. It sounds to me that he knows how is and is making decisions that are right for him.
As for his marriage, it seems that they are very well suited for each other. They seem to go well together, even in appearance. Many people are bound by their age and what normally happens at certain ages, but there are many others who aren’t. When someone who is older or wiser than their years finds someone who they can relate too, regardless of the other person’s age, it’s a good thing. I like them together, I’m glad they’re content, and I wish them many years of happiness. Considering the train wrecks that many young stars are and have been since the beginning of the movie business, it really doesn’t make sense to be critical of young man who is in a seemingly stable marriage, has two children who he loves and cares for, and has a wonderful career so far.
What a great comment!
Thank you!
Ilove this guy I think he is a great actor and I have loved all the movies that i have seen him in. ( albert nobbs was a great flim) I love his dedication to his craft and hs family.
Cant wait for kick ass 2! did i mention i love this guy.
More apt might be comparisons to Liam Hemsworth, Nicolas Hoult or Daniel Radcliff who are his contemporaries/about the same age. With that comparison we see three seemingly together 22 yr olds, making good career choices and being relatively mature and together for their age.
In this context, it’s Aaron that stands out as taking on too much, too fast. The age difference between he and his wife is pretty drastic…and frankly even more jarring that he was only 18 when they officially got together. I like the idea of “soul mates” as much as anybody, but that borders on predatory. Especially because she was his director.
He is any adult and clearly old enough to make choices, by in my opinion, many of those were made at the too young age of 18/19.
Great post.
Agree 100%
I agree. Biologically, our frontal lobes don’t fully mature until we’re in our early 20s, which is the part of the brain that’s responsible for decision-making. Knowing that, I worry for him and his well-being. He may realize in a year or two that he’s made a big mistake – a mistake he can’t take back. And, frankly, this woman is only consoling herself when she calls him an “old soul”; it prevents her from feeling like she stole his youth and freedom. Had she truly loved him, she would’ve waited until he was older to get married and have children. But, as it is, it seems like she’s selfishly trapped him.
They’re so creepy. I have a feeling he’s going to want out of this marriage by the time he’s about 24 or 25.
That will mean he will have been married for two or three years which is probably about right for Hollywood.
Amazingly handsome man, but disturbing relationship. I can’t help but feel she’s simply a woman who was feeling her age too much and decided to feel vibrant again by attaching herself to a younger man.
He’s young and while he’s mature he may also come to want out of the relationship (like so many 22 yr olds do) and now he’s more or less trapped due to the children. As an older individual she should have considered the mental and emotional strain this would put on him rather than skipping along to be impregnated.
I always wonder whether the people who enter into these relationships would just as eagerly sign up for their children to be in similar circumstances.
IIRC she had just battled cancer before they got together, so your theroy that she was feeling her age is probably more like she was starting to feel her mortality and latched onto this guy because he represents youth and vitality.
I find where he talks about his parents having to visit him if they want to see him or the grandkids very telling. That just sounds like his parents don’t approve of the nature of this relationship.
I agree, that stood out as a big red flag to me as well. You get on well with your parents but then you’re talking about how they need to come to you in order to see their grandchildren, and obviously, you as well? Sounds more like a power play to me. And I wonder who’s directing that?
I can’t help but feel she’s a predator. She took a barely out of his youth boy and molded him into a reflection of her ideas and opinions.
It’s creepy.
People are freaking out because Taylor Swift is dating a teenager, and not that Ann is dating an almost-teenager. What’s up w/ that?
There are a lot of assumptions going on here based on very little. There is no point psychoanalysing someone’s relationship with their parents or their wife’s svengali-ness or his maturity. It is also silly to say if it were the other way around it would raise eyebrows – it often Is the other way around. noone raises eyebrows over Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas do they? Also, marriages break up All the Time, so let him have a decade or whatever of married life. let her have a nice young man for a while. The kids will be fine, like so many kids are with divorced parents these days.
CZJ was well into adulthood by the time she got with her husband, Aaron had just legally stopped being considered a child when he got with his wife. I don’t think you can really compare the two. That Courtney Stodden chick and her man would be a better comparison to this couple.
No, that Courtney chick is way more immature than this guy. And I’m pretty sure she has mental health issues. Or is on drugs.
This will crash and burn it’s inevitable.
there’s a bug on his lapel.
(j/k)
(i like it!)
… as for Sam, she never seems to be able to contain her teeth or wear mascara. just an observation.
I know everyone dislikes them together. And I know based just on divorce rates it probably won’t last. Most marriages end in divrorce these days regardless of age difference. Then everyone will be screaming I told you so!
But I’m rooting for them. I know everyone thinks she stole away his youth and she manipulated him but I don’t. I think that right now this is what they both want. And I wish them the best.
+1
I think the relationship is ultimately doomed, but I hope not…at first, I thought this was way creepy of her (and I still kinda do), but I like them together. And I think he is a stone-cold FOX, and if I had the opportunity to get with him like she did I would have probably done the same thing.
I’m in a marriage with a similar age difference, and after 12 years of being very happy together, we still have people telling us it won’t work because of our ages. I’m not sure how long we have to be married before that stops, but I’m pretty sure, at this point, that it says more about them than it does about us. Some people simply don’t want to believe that anything outside the norm is ok; it’s like it threatens their view of the world and makes them uncomfortable.
I understand large age differences, but to me there is a very big difference between a 22 year old and a 42 year old and a 25 year old and a 45 year old. Late teens, early 20s…you are still a young adult…You can fight for your country, vote, smoke/drink…but you can still be in college and on your parent’s medical insurance….By your mid 20s, you are a full fledged adult more or less. That’s what throws me off about this relationship. If he was just a little older, I don’t think I would be quite as creeped out.
Does anyone remember the Queen-to-be character from Coming to America that was bethrothed to Eddie’s Prince of Zamunda (sp?) character and how she only liked the things that Eddie liked, only thought the thoughts that Eddie would approve of, and did everything that he commanded of her?
That’s what this interview is making Aaron look like, as if he has no mind of his own.
I’m sorry, but all I see is a woman in her 40’s who went for an 18 year old.
How this is considered romantic is beyond me. Doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman, if you at that age not only feel attracted to someone that is 18 but act on it, especially while being their fkn BOSS, there is something seriously wrong with you.
Or you look like a horse and can only get laid by horny teenagers. Which seems plausible I suppose.
Why is noone pointing to the pink fkn elephant?
Either way, it is pathetic.
🙂
OK, I’m only 28 and I wouldn’t go near an 18 year old, its just insane. She totally took advantage of him, he’s just a freaking kid! And before anyone accuses me of hypocrisy, it’s just as disgusting when a man in his forties gets with a teenager.
I find them fascinating. I want to be a fly on the wall when they have dinner parties with their art world friends.
Aaron looks all crazy eyed and uncomfortable in most pictures imo, but then is all forthright and intelligent in interviews. It’s an odd contrast.
I don’t know enough about ’em to comment, but I’m in my late 20s and have dated some very young guys (18, 19) and I gotta say. Not all of them have their shit together, but the ones that do…wow. they are capable of being adults on a level I couldn’t have even fathomed at that age. And it’s often younger men who grew up in rough circumstances. I’ve met maybe two over the years who were definitely full-blown adults; amazingly smart, settled people who have been forced to spend more time than most thinking about what they want from their lives.
I’d like to know what a body language expert thinks of those photos because they just look forced and strange to me. And that suit he’s wearing is too fug to mention.
I’d like to know what a body language expert thinks of those photos because they just look forced and strange to me. And that suit he’s wearing is fuuuug.
Wow, he played “Joe” in Albert Nobbs. Great movie, didn’t recognize him from it at first. He reminds me of a young Daniel Day Lewis. He has the ability to transform himself totally into whichever character he plays. I LOVE when actors can pull that off.
Does anyone else see a resemblance to Heather Mills when they look at this woman?
No comment on their relationship. I remember reading about Edward Furlong and his older lover (back in the day)when he was VERY YOUNG, and it didn’t end so well… Furlong was in a relationship with his much-older former tutor, Jacqueline Domac, for several years (he was 14 when they began dating, she 29).
These two are Demi and Ashton 2.0
+2. Demi and Ashton. Inevitable. Just a matter of time.
It always puzzles me why Lainey is so obsessed with these two, but they’re adults who have children together and it seems to be working for now. However, like a previous poster said above while reading that interview I’m feeling things are kinda sketchy. It sounds like Sam took a lonely, not so confident teenager who never new much of a world before her and painted one for him before he could go experience one of his own.
Best Vronskys:
1. Sean Bean
2. Kevin McKidd
They look like a throwback couple from the Victorian age. I can totally see this as a past life thing revisited.
She has a daughter (Aaron’s stepdaughter) who’s 15. That seems awkward to me.