Film director Samantha Taylor-Johnson is married to a man 24 years her junior — but says the age gap “doesn’t really matter”.
The Fifty Shades of Grey director is 57 years old and her actor husband Aaron Taylor-Johnson is 33.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Backlash against Aaron and Sam Taylor-Johnson.
Stream the world’s best reality, entertainment and true-crime shows free on 7plus
They met when she was directing the young actor in the John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy in 2009; at the time, Aaron was 18 and Samantha 42.
The pair married in 2012 and have had two children — Wylda, 13, and Romy Hero, 11.
News that they were dating caused a kerfuffle — and it still does to this day.
In a recent interview with The Guardian, Sam brushed off criticism of the age gap, noting that less scrutiny was applied to older men who date younger woman.
“We’re a bit of an anomaly, but it’s that thing: after 14 years you just think, surely by now it doesn’t really matter?” said the director, whose latest film is the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black.
“I’m a great believer that the heart overrides everything.
“Love conquers all.”
She added that the age gap “question” only ever came up when journalists probed her about it.
“I mean, it’s coming up now because you’re asking,” she said.
“And it comes up on the outside perspective of people who don’t know us, because people will always (talk).”
Aaron Taylor-Johnson has vehemently denied in interviews that his wife “groomed” him, arguing that it was he who pursued her.
But the director said she has seen some “vicious” comments about their relationship online.
“They’re abusive about anything,” she said, adding that it didn’t stop her from looking at social media.
“Because it’s just there, but it doesn’t mean anything.
“It is just people upset with their own sadness, with misgivings about their own life.
“(Our kids) see two loving, happy parents, so it doesn’t really register.
“They just think people are a bit mean, or mad.”
In a relationship with Aaron for 14 years and married for 12, their union has outlasted her marriage to Jay Jopling. Taylor-Johnson and Jopling had two daughters, now aged 25 and 15.
“So, if you think of it in that way, then the age gap doesn’t really make any difference,” she said.
Speaking to Rolling Stone UK recently, Aaron — who is predicted to star in the next Bond film — slammed those who criticised their age gap, noting that by the time he was 18 he was well and truly an adult.
“What most people were doing in their twenties, I was doing when I was 13,” he said.
“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.”
