Aaron Taylor-Johnson Speaks Out On 'Bizarre' Interest In 23-Year Age Gap With His Wife

As fans await word on whether he’s landed the role of James Bond, Aaron Taylor-Johnson is taking time to address the lingering discourse over his marriage to filmmaker Sam Taylor-Johnson, who is 23 years his senior. 

The couple met while working on the 2009 John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy, when Aaron was 18 and Sam was 41. They welcomed their first daughter together, Wylda Rae, in 2010. They were married in 2012, the same year their second daughter, Romy Hero, was born. 

In an interview with Rolling Stone U.K., Aaron Taylor-Johnson discussed the public fascination with his 12-year marriage. “What you gotta realise,” he told the publication, “is that what most people were doing in their 20s, I was doing when I was 13.”

He added: “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.” 

Not surprisingly, the Kick-Ass and Nocturnal Animals actor has had to field questions about the age gap numerous times throughout his career.

In 2017, he acknowledged that the media frenzy over his relationship had been “intrusive” but suggested there was a silver lining. 

“Having to deal with that early in my career probably got me to a place where I can more quickly just go, ‘Oh, fuck it’ instead of wanting to rip someone’s head off for asking questions I don’t like,” he told New York Magazine’s Vulture. 

And in a chat with Esquire last year, he said starting a family early was always part of his life plan: “I knew I was going to be a young father. I knew I was going to have many kids.”

Elsewhere in his Rolling Stone U.K. chat, Aaron Taylor-Johnson praised Sam Taylor-Johnson’s directing skills, calling his wife “a great filmmaker and a wonderful storyteller.” He also believes viewers will be dazzled by Back to Black, Sam Taylor-Johnson’s forthcoming Amy Winehouse biopic.

“Everyone’s going to realise how fantastic a filmmaker she is,” he said, 

One thing he won’t discuss, however, is the numerous reports that he’s signed on to replace Daniel Craig as James Bond in the next instalment of the 007 franchise. Instead, he shifted the focus of his Rolling Stone chat to The Fall Guy, his forthcoming action thriller with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, among other projects. 

“I can only really talk about the things I’m going to show and tell,” he said.