Director Sam Taylor-Johnson, 57, Shares Rare Photo With Husband, 34, Addresses 23-Year Age Gap

Filmmaker Sam Taylor-Johnson, 57, posted a rare intimate photo with her husband, actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson, 34, on Instagram Monday. The image, taken at the Glastonbury Festival, shows the couple embracing, with Sam wearing a khaki Marfa Stance jacket and Aaron sporting a denim jacket over a white t-shirt.

The post comes after Sam recently addressed public interest in the couple’s 23-year age difference. In a May interview, she expressed surprise at the ongoing fascination with their relationship, which began when they met on the set of Nowhere Boy in 2009. They married in 2012.

“The interest was more intense when we first got together 14 years ago,” Sam told BBC Radio 4’s This Cultural Life program. “People want to understand things when they can’t fathom a certain love story that doesn’t fit in a box.”

Sam noted that while public curiosity has diminished over time, it tends to resurface during press events. In a recent interview with The Guardian, she firmly stated that the age gap has never been an issue within their relationship.

“We’re a bit of an anomaly, but after 14 years, you just think, surely by now it doesn’t really matter?” Sam said.

The director, known for films like Fifty Shades of Grey and the recently released Back to Black, also addressed her approach to their relationship. “If I had been cynical for a second, it wouldn’t have worked,” she explained. “I’m quite instinctual. I’ve gone feet first into everything in my life.”

Sam has two daughters from a previous marriage to art dealer Jay Jopling, and shares two younger daughters with Aaron. The couple maintains a private personal life, rarely sharing details of their relationship publicly.

Despite ongoing public interest, Sam remains steadfast in her commitment to Aaron. “I’m a great believer that the heart overrides everything,” she said. “Love conquers all.”

In 2009, Taylor-Johnson revealed to uInterview exclusively why she cast Aaron as John Lennon in Nowhere Boy and then fell in love. 

“I saw a lot of people and no one really came to the audition with that ability to carry such a role and I knew that Aaron had been on the set of Kick-Ass so when he arrived I didn’t really hold out high expectations,” she said. “I thought you know, he hasn’t had time to research this and I don’t know what he’s gonna bring to this, but he came in the room as Lennon and that was pretty impressive for a first casting.”