Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s messy family life: From growing up fast to raising kids as a young dad

In a rare family affair indeed, Aaron Taylor-Johnson was joined by his wife Sam and stepdaughters Angelica and Jessie as they supported him at the New York City premiere of his new movie, Kraven the Hunter.

The relationship between Aaron Taylor-Johnson, 34, and Sam, 57, has always been a controversial one. They met each other on the set of Sam’s directorial debut Nowhere Boy in 2008 when Aaron was 18 and she was in her early 40s, with the director auditioning him at her home. They welcomed their first daughter, Wylda Rae, in 2010 followed by Romy Hero in 2012.

When the Taylor-Johnson household stepped out for the Kraven premiere on Wednesday, the controversy surrounding Aaron and Sam’s age gap resurfaced on Twitter, with some even mistaking his 34-year-old stepdaughter for his wife. To clear up confusion, here’s the real scoop on his family life.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson knew he was going to have lots of kids

Credit: Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock

Despite the dark cloud hanging over their relationship, Aaron Taylor-Johnson has always spoken honestly about his love with Sam and the family they built.

“I knew instantly with Sam that I’d found my soulmate,” he told The Telegraph in 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.”

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Even from ages 10 or 11, Aaron knew he would be a young father with lots of kids, especially after meeting his future wife Sam who further pushed him towards the “big family” he had always wanted.

“I was going to have a big family. I knew I was going to be a young father. I knew I was going to have many kids,” he told Esquire before refusing to answer any more questions that would “unlock things that are actually precious to me.”

Their kids are kept out of the spotlight

i physically grimance every time i see aaron taylor johnson and his wife on my screen

— aisha ☾ (@cosmicghafa) December 13, 2024

Both Aaron and Sam have always kept the curtains closed on their relationship, though if we’re being honest that’s probably to minimise the amount of scrutiny they come under. Anytime he is in the news, “get rid of the granny” and statements like it garner thousands of interactions on Twitter.

“We live behind walls,” Aaron told Harper’s Bazaar in 2019. “Literally, figuratively, and deliberately. You’ll never see our children or any of our most personal moments on social media or in the press. We have our professional lives and our life together, and we keep them apart.”

Nonetheless, he’s not opposed to the occasional gushing tribute on his Instagram page, which we saw in a birthday post for stepdaughter Jessie when he wrote “still my babygirl” in the caption.

Both Angelica, 27, and Jessie, 18, come from their mother’s earlier marriage to art dealer Jay Jopling which lasted from 1997 to 2008.

Aaron is a very hands-on father

Despite his packed schedule on recent projects such as Bullet Train, The Fall Guy, and the upcoming 28 Years Later, Aaron is very much a family man through and through and prefers to spend time with his kids over lavish parties.

“My whole thing, my priority, is my family, my kids and my wife. That’s my future. I don’t really care about what role is next,” he said in 2013. “I’m not attached to things, I don’t have that ambitious thing that most actors my age have. I don’t live to act, to go from job to job … I live for my wife and my kids and I wake up to them and that’s what I enjoy.”

His Instagram is filled with lovey-dovey pictures with Sam, though his kids are deliberately absent from his feed.

The family have been fighting allegations for years

From the moment they first announced their relationship, Sam and Aaron have been forced to content with accusations that she groomed him. Such statements are still widely shared on Twitter today and in the comment sections of their Instagram.

Addressing the backlash, he told Rolling Stone: “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.”

Shockingly, Sam doesn’t seem too phased by controversy either despite being accused of quite serious things. She told The Hollywood Reporter in April that they tend to focus on family matters.

“There are times when it’s uncomfortable. Most of the time, we zone it out and stay pretty private. We tend to retreat. Kids and school runs keep you pretty grounded,” she said.

Her statement echoed previous comments about how their kids don’t “really register” the age difference, all they see is two loving parents. According to The Guardian, she is “a great believer that the heart overrides everything” and that love conquers all, even accusations of grooming apparently.

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Featured image credit: Aaron Taylor-Johnson/Instagram & Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock