English actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson, 33, has been making headlines recently as one of the actors rumored to be in the running to become the next James Bond. Just a few months ago, he was making his way around the world promoting his latest film, Bullet Train, which stars Joey King, Brad Pitt, and Brian Tyree Henry. And when he’s not in the news for his acting, he sometimes picks up headlines for having a 23-year-age gap with his wife, filmmaker Sam Taylor-Johnson.
Aaron and Sam, 56, have been married since 2012 and have two children together. Unfortunately, they have been subject to several divorce rumors over the last year, despite putting on a happy face in public together. Read on to learn more about Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s wife Sam and their marriage.
Sam Taylor-Johnson is a director best known for 2008’s Love You More, 2009’s Nowhere Boy, 2015’s Fifty Shades of Grey, and 2018’s A Million Little Pieces. The latter is a film adaptation of James Frey’s 2003 book of the same name. The husband-wife duo both wrote the screenplay, and Sam starred as James in the drama.
“The minute I knew he was available, it was clear that Aaron would be James. Absolutely, without question,” Sam told Vanity Fair at the film’s premiere at Toronto Film Festival in 2018. “I think it was serendipitous timing that he was available, the book rights were available, and the timing was perfect.” The film served as their first time collaborating as husband and wife, which Sam called a “dream.”
Giving insight into how they worked together, she credited Aaron with really getting their script going. “Aaron, he can sit for 8, 10 hours and just be utterly focused on something and keep working on it and hammering it out. Whereas I don’t have that kind of focus,” she explained. “I have a vision of how I see things and ideas for how scenes should play out. But he would be the one who would sit there and really draft, and I would come in and throw in ideas and throw in thoughts, and then he would work. He would sit still. I’d be pacing around. And it works — it really works.”
Sam has two older daughters, Angelica, 25, and Jessie, 15, from her previous marriage to Jay Jopling. They were together from 1997 to 2008.
The filmmakers met on the set of Nowhere Boy, which Sam directed, and Aaron played the leading role. “I knew instantly with Sam that I’d found my soulmate,” Aaron gushed to The Telegraph in Aug. 2019. “I knew instantly that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this person. I remember it very well, and a year to the day [after] I met her I proposed. I knew I wanted a family with her, I knew I wanted kids, and a month later she was pregnant with our first child.”
The pair got engaged in 2009 and walked down the aisle in 2012. However, before making their union official, they had two beautiful baby girls: Wylda Rae in 2010 and Romy Hero in 2012.
Aaron and Sam know that the media has taken note of their age gap — and they simply don’t care. Describing why their 23-year age difference was never an issue, Aaron told The Telegraph, “I worked in an adult environment from an early age; I had open, direct conversations with directors, producers, actors, where my opinions would be valued and matter,” he said. “I grew up pretty quickly — I left school at 15. I had a totally different upbringing from my kids.”
The Kick-Ass star continued, “When I met Sam I’d already lived a life far beyond that of most of my contemporaries — I didn’t relate to anyone my age. I just feel that we’re on the same wavelength.”
“All that is my personal life, it’s sacred to me and it’s beautiful. But there is a lot of negativity around from other people. That’s their problem and their issues and however they perceive life,” he added, directly addressing haters. “I live my life to its fullest and I operate from my instincts and from my heart, and I try to be as open as possible.”
“I can’t dwell on what other people think or say,” Sam interjected. “With Aaron it just literally felt like we were so connected, straight away. I didn’t know what it was then — we were connected when we were working and it was professional, and that connection grew more powerful as time went on and never diminished.”
There have been a few reports about trouble in paradise for Aaron and Sam over the past two years — especially after they put their seven-bedroom, six-bathroom Hollywood Hills home on the market in April 2021 (via The Dirt). However, they have shown known no signs of turbulence publicly. In Oct. 2022, the pair was photographed holding each other and smiling into each other’s eyes at a boutique opening in London. Plus, Aaron and Sam are all over each other’s Instagram feeds.
In June 2022, Aaron shared an adorable photo on Instagram of the couple kissing and wrote a heartfelt caption alongside it to celebrate their tenth anniversary. He also revealed they renewed their vows. “Yesterday was the most beautiful day, summer solstice, our 10th anniversary… we renewed our vows to one another and confessed our love in front of our nearest and dearest friends and family it was a celebration of love and joy!” he gushed. “A decade of marriage. It was a magical unforgettable day and the sun did not stop shining on us both.. we are blessed beyond belief. … Sammy you are my love, my life, my soulmate, my wife, my world!”
Sam has shown up on his feed multiple times since. The director also took a moment to celebrate their anniversary by sharing a different snapshot of them smooching during the vow renewal ceremony on her Instagram feed. “10 glorious years,” she began. “My incredible husband, father to all 4 girls. I love you, I love you, I love you … love conquers all”.
© 2024 Hollywoodlife.com, LLC. All rights reserved.