Why Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Marriage Is Causing Fans To Be Concerned For The Actor
Artist and photographer Sam Taylor-Wood married art dealer Jay Jopling in 1997. The couple were married for 11 years and had two daughters together. One of whom, Angelica, appeared in her mother's directorial film debut Nowhere Boy.
The film starred Aaron Johnson, a young actor who is six years older than Angelica. Sam would begin a relationship with Aaron shortly after splitting from Jopling. They would soon have two children and get married, changing their surnames to Taylor-Johnson.
There are several factors within Sam and Aaron's relationship that seem cause for concern. These questionable factors have led fans to be concerned for Aaron and suspicious of Sam.
Aaron And Sam Insist They Kept It Professional On Set, But A Lot Of People Don't Buy It
Aaron first met Sam at her house when he auditioned for the role of a young John Lennon in Nowhere Boy. Many see this as the first red flag, since a lot of stories within the #MeToo movement begin with an audition at the director's home or hotel room.
However, the official reason Aaron auditioned at Sam's house is that his shooting schedule for the film Kick-Ass didn't allow him to audition with the other actors.
There was an attraction between the two, despite the fact that Sam was 42 while Aaron was still a teenager. Aaron's age at the time of their meeting is still unclear. Some publications reported he was 18, some say he was 19 and other rumors claim he was actually 17.
There were also rumors that Sam was a family friend of Aaron's and knew him as a child. However, these rumors are said to have originated on Twitter and have not been proven.
According to Sam, there was an "intense connection" between the two of them. However, she insisted there was "no funny business at all" while on set.
"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," Sam told Harper's Bazaar in 2019.
However, many don't believe Sam's account. In fact, after Simon Hattenstone of The Guardian visited the set, he wrote the following:
"Whenever the rain comes, she runs inside the house, arm in arm with 19-year-old Aaron Johnson, who plays Lennon. They dance and laugh like teenagers in love. I've never been on a film set with such a strange atmosphere. While the rest of the cast and crew are welcoming, Taylor-Wood and Johnson seem oblivious to the world."
Certain Factors Cause Many To Believe Aaron Was 'Groomed' By His Current Wife
Many people take issue with Aaron and Sam's alleged romantic relationship while filming Nowhere Boy. The reason for this is that Sam was still Aaron's boss during this time. Aaron was also very young and just starting to break out in movies. He was dependent on her to get the part and she had the connections to potentially blacklist him. There was a clear power imbalance in this dynamic.
Aaron said that he proposed to Sam "a year to the minute after we met, exactly one year to the minute."
He told The Telegraph UK, "I knew I wanted a family with her, I knew I wanted kids, and a month later she was pregnant with our first child."
YouTuber Gustaf Genz made a video on the couple's relationship where he said it was natural for Aaron to be "impulsive" at his age, but Sam "should've known better." He also said that when the couple is interviewed together, Aaron always seems to look at Sam for approval when speaking.
The couple would have two children together before marrying in 2012. Aaron later developed a reputation as a stay-at-home dad. Sam would tell The Guardian, "The great thing about Aaron is that he's happy not working and being at home with the kids while I work."
However, there are many who believe the only reason Aaron is happy is that he never knew anything else. He didn't have any other option and one Reddit user claimed that Sam got pregnant so quickly to "trap" Aaron.
From their ages to their working relationship to the timing of Sam's pregnancy, all of these factors cause many to believe Aaron was "groomed" and "manipulated" by Sam.
Aaron And Sam Have Both Defended Their Relationship To The Public
In 2017, Sam told The Sunday Times that Aaron has an "old soul."
"My friends call him Benjamin Button because he has — on the outside — such youth, and on the inside, he is so wise and settled," she said. "He doesn't like parties. He likes being at home and cooking for the family. He likes walking the dogs. He loves his chickens — he collects the eggs and makes breakfast for everyone."
Despite these claims, there are many who feel bad for Aaron because he never got the chance to try any other kind of lifestyle as an adult. One female TikTok user commented, "It gives me flashbacks to being 15 and being told I was so mature for my age."
Despite all this chatter, Sam told The Daily Beast in 2019 that it doesn't bother her.
"We've been together for over a decade now, so I feel like it is less of a conversation for people," she said. "It doesn't worry me, and it's not something that is difficult to talk about because it's such a positive story, that we're a decade later together and working together and raising a strong family together. That may be a positive message for people out there."
While Sam doesn't seem to be phased by the attention, Aaron was less than blasé about it when speaking to Vulture in 2017.
"The attention was intrusive," he said of their early relationship. "But having to deal with that early in my career probably got me to a place where I can more quickly just go, 'Oh, f*** it' instead of wanting to rip someone's head off for asking questions I don't like."
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