SHE’S been labelled a “cradle-snatcher”, “sexual deviant” and even a “groomer” – while he has been accused of having “complex mother issues”.
Yet stepping out on the red carpet in London earlier this week for the world premiere of his new film 28 Years Later, Sam and Aaron Taylor-Johnson looked unfazed by the furore that’s forever stalked their relationship.
From where they’re standing, they’ve proved the critics wrong.
Tomorrow marks their 13th wedding anniversary, after all – an impressive feat by Hollywood standards.
But it’s even more startling considering the never-ending noise surrounding their age-gap romance, and its very unconventional beginning.
They first met in 2008, when Aaron, then just 18, was cast in the role of a teenage John Lennon in Sam’s directorial debut Nowhere Boy.
Filmmaker and double cancer survivor Sam was 41, more than double his age, and had two daughters with her ex-husband, the art dealer Jay Jopling – to whom she was married for 11 years before they “amicably” split in 2008.
While seemingly worlds apart, the pair connected and reportedly got together upon completing their film.
As Sam told Harper’s Bazaar in 2019, “We were very professional through the entire film… But everyone on set knew.
“And as soon as we finished, he told me he was going to marry me. We had never been on a date, or even kissed.”
She was quick to stress the fact that he pursued her, seemingly trying – and failing – to squash the “granny groomer” accusations swiftly lobbed in her direction.
Filming concluded in March and, by June – when Aaron turned 19 – they were stepping out together on date nights.
Neither confirmed a romance, but the PDAs did the talking.
By their film’s premiere in October 2009 they were officially a couple.
Walking the red carpet arm-in-arm – Sam in a glitzy gold dress and Aaron in a tux – they started as they meant to go on: loud and unapologetic.
Needless to say, the reaction was deafening.
Comments from the time included: “She looks like his mum!” and “How can she do this to him? He’s only a child who barely knows his own mind yet.”
Double standards
Some were also quick to point out that any positive reactions would have been very different were things the other way around.
Sam wasn’t just more than two decades older than Aaron. She was also wealthier, more established and – with friends like artist Damien Hirst and Elton John – enviably better connected.
What’s more, as the director of his breakout movie, she was effectively his boss.
But despite the cascade of “casting couch” accusations, the couple remained defiant – and a year after they met, Aaron got down on one knee.
Critics loudly declared it wouldn’t last, with one commenter suggesting: “Let’s see how long he sticks around if he makes it big.”
Another scoffed: “I give it three months.”
By 2010 they’d welcomed their first child together – daughter Wylda Rae, now 14 – and second daughter Romy followed in January 2012.
They married five months later at Babington House in Somerset – a lavish do attended by Beyonce and Elton John – and combined their surnames. They now live down the road in a £1.85m farmhouse in Bruton.
Aaron claimed he wasn’t nervous about fatherhood as he’d already settled into the role of stepdad to Sam’s two daughters – Angelica, now 28, and Jessie Phoenix, now 18 – despite the fact that Angelica was only six years his junior.
He’s made a point of stating he considers them both his own daughters, affectionately calling Jessie his “babygirl” in an Instagram caption last year to mark her 18th birthday.
Obviously any suggestion he’s anything more than a loving stepfather is unfounded – which is why the latest slew of rumours surrounding Aaron and his stepdaughter must have stung.
Last December Aaron and Sam were joined by Angelica and Jessie Phoenix on the red carpet for the premiere of his movie Kraven The Hunter.
Posing for the cameras, Aaron put his arm around Jessie Phoenix and gave her a reassuring stroke on the back.
The candid moment – a fatherly gesture no doubt intended to reassure the camera-shy teenager – was catnip to twisted internet trolls who branded the it “disgusting”, while TikTok lit up with clips of the moment.
Wild conspiracy theories of an illicit affair flooded the comments, with one commenter questioning: “Are they flirting?” and another writing: “What if being with the grandma is all a show and he’s with her daughter?”
A third added: “If I didn’t know their story, I would think that was his girlfriend.”
Unsurprisingly the couple, nor their children, dignified the ludicrous furore with a response.
Their reaction was the same when, two years ago, vicious rumours swirled that Aaron had an affair with his much younger Bullet Train co-star Joey King, 25.
I much prefer being a parent to working. Doesn’t everybody?
Aaron Taylor-Johnson
In his early 20s, father-of-four Aaron claimed he was just as happy playing a stay-at-home dad as he was leading blockbuster films.
His early roles in their relationship included Kick Ass, Savages, Anna Karenina and Godzilla.
When Sam won the highly-contested directing gig for Fifty Shades of Grey in 2015, he took time off to man the fort at home.
As he later told The Post, “I much prefer being a parent to working. Doesn’t everybody? The best time I have is with my kids, experiencing their growth and their life with them. I think it’s important to have time to enjoy that.”
As for Sam, she paid tribute to him while promoting the film, saying, “Being in an amazing relationship, having come out of a difficult one, it felt so good [that he stayed at home while she worked].
“And I feel like that stability has enabled me to get on with doing this momentous project.”
She then returned the favour, enabling him to star in 2016’s Nocturnal Animals to rave reviews and a Golden Globe Award.
Paying tribute to his beloved in his speech, he said: “I want to thank my wife for being there with me, supporting me through this.
“Thank you for putting up with me. Jesus, that was not very pleasant in this role, so you’re my soulmate and I love you very much… I’m blessed. I have four beautiful daughters: Anjelica, Phoenix, Wylda, and Romy, I love you all very much.”
Sam has described Aaron as an old soul in a younger man’s body, and claims their strong union has come from their ability to ignore the uproar.
In 2017, she said: “If I gave a second thought to other people, I would be the unhappiest person, probably still in a miserable marriage.
“People like to talk about [the age gap]. I’m like, ‘Yeah, but it works better than my last marriage’. It’s lasted longer than a lot of my friends’ marriages.”
Ironically, months before she and Aaron went public, her ex Jay Jopling was embroiled in his own age-gap romance when he was pictured kissing a then 23-year-old Lily Allen in the Caribbean.
The fling fizzled out quickly, but he was never tarnished with the same “groomer” label as Sam.
Power play
Speaking in 2023, Amelia Kelley, a trauma-informed therapist, told Business Insider that criticism surrounding the Taylor-Johnsons was blatant misogyny.
“When we see an older woman with a younger man, it underscores that the woman isn’t as young as we think they should be,” she said.
“That could be uncomfortable for someone to see.”
Yet Elizabeth Jeglic, a professor of psychology at John Jay College in New York, argued against the gendered critique, suggesting it was Sam who could have abused her position of power.
“The person who is older tends to be a person who has more power or more experience,” she said.
“They often will select individuals who are younger and more inexperienced because they’re more vulnerable. And that creates an unequal power dynamic.”
Aaron’s still surprised by the furore and frenzy his age-gap romance stirs up.
Speaking last year to Rolling Stone, he said, “What you gotta realise 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? It’s bizarre to me.”
General consensus is that Aaron wasn’t seeking a mummy figure because of any maternal hole in his life.
He’s in fact remained incredibly close to his own mother, Sarah, who accompanied him to film sets throughout his young career, taught him “how to be a man” and has played an active role in raising her grandchildren.
As for his early dating life there’s no sign of any prior “older woman fetish”, with previous flings including actresses Georgia Groome, 33, and Alice Connor, 34.
Likewise, it doesn’t seem like Sam was simply looking for someone to baby or boss around.
She may be a bigwig director, but she’s just as happy sharing the spotlight with her incredibly successful, increasingly handsome younger husband.
Aaron’s role in Danny Boyle’s latest epic promises to strengthen his position as one of the UK’s most successful actors on both sides of the pond – while whispers that he’s favourite to play the next James Bond continue.
As the couple hit the red carpet this week, now aged 35 and 58 respectively, one cynic wrote, “son and great-grandma”, while another commented, “She really got her claws in deep, that one.”
But refreshingly, many comments now celebrate the pair, with one writing: “Good on them for proving haters wrong.”
Another added: “Age is just a number when you love each other as this couple obviously do.”
It’s safe to say they’ll never stop courting controversy – as every time they step out together, the public are reminded of how it all began.
But over a decade later, the Taylor-Johnsons continue to put two fingers up to their doubters.
