Aaron Taylor-Johnson surprised fans with an unusual congratulation from his wife.

- Aaron, how did you work under the direction of the famous couturier Tom Ford, who took the director's chair?

For me, Tom is better than many "real" directors who consult too much with actors and producers. He always knows exactly what he wants from the actor and crew, despite the fact that this is only his second film (the first, "A Single Man", was nominated for an Oscar in 2010. - Approx. "TN"). I think it was thanks to this ability that Ford created a successful fashion brand. In fact, he is the manager of a huge company who knows what he wants from the team. I would even compare him to Fellini or Hitchcock: he also has great personal charisma.

Was it easy to get out of character after a day of shooting?

Not good. Three months before filming started, Tom asked me to start growing out my nails, hair, and beard. Outwardly, I looked like a homeless person. In addition, I read books about serial killers and psychopaths.

- Your children were not shocked by what their dad reads?

I leafed through literature when they were at school or after they were put to bed.

- In the film, you look extremely haggard. Make-up artists tried?

A month before filming, I started drinking and smoking and almost stopped eating. All this combined and gave my face a milky gray tint. Then, fortunately, I was able to tie up with bad habits- Sam gave me an ultimatum: the day after the filming was completed - no cigarettes, alcohol - only on special occasions.

- Did you comply?

I had to: you can’t spoil with my wife, she is a clear leader in our relations. The only thing she allowed me to do was keep my beard. I forgot how to shave in the morning. It turns out that this process steals a lot of time.

- Did the director somehow set you up for the role?

troubles main character, played by Amy Adams, is largely due to the fact that she tries to build her life, imitating the successful middle class. You yourself grew up in the county of Buckinghamshire, which is considered very expensive and respectable. Did you feel the expectations from loved ones?

No. Firstly, my family was rather from the lowest class. My dad was a designer, my mom was a housewife. Secondly, nothing was imposed on me, I myself chose what to do. Since childhood, I wanted to perform in front of the public, and my mother decided to take me to several auditions. As a result, I made my first money at the age of six, starring in an advertisement for washing powder.

- Do you also bring up your children in the spirit of complete freedom?

Sam and I have four daughters (the actor is raising two children from Samantha's previous marriage to gallery owner Jay Joplin. - Approx. "TN"). We all moved to California together. On the one hand, there is a good climate, picturesque nature, on the other hand, Hollywood with all its temptations is nearby. We try not to pamper children in vain: they should know that luxury in this world goes to hard work. Wife no doubt Strong woman and gives to daughters good example. I feel like a young father-priest in a convent. People turn to me to resolve a dispute when women can no longer agree among themselves.

With his wife and common daughters - Wilde Ray and Romi Hiro. Photo: Legion Media

- From you and the truth emanates calmness. Are you impossible to piss off?

Quarrels and scandals on the screen are difficult for me. I am really balanced. The biggest stress outside of the set is getting all the girls to their classes (from horseback riding and swimming to the piano) and then picking them up on time.

- What else, besides working as a carrier, is the role of the father of the family?

I try to cook with my daughters. As a child, I myself ran after school to courses acting skills and gymnastics, ate on the go, often just took dinner out of the refrigerator and warmed it up in the microwave. I want my children to be different.

You have very diverse roles. A teenager in the Kick-Ass duology, superhero Mercury in the Avengers franchise, Count Vronsky in Anna Karenina, and now a serial killer in the film Under Cover of Night. Don't you get exhausted by such violent changes of scenery?

It's hard to move from superheroes to ordinary people. Filming in the comedies "Kick-Ass" and "Kick-Ass 2", it was as if I traveled back in time - I returned to school. And my wife called my role in the film “Under cover of night” murderous. I have never changed so radically. My wife likes it when, before filming action movies, I train in the gym, do jiu-jitsu: the body immediately takes on a masculine outline.

- To get used to the role, I started drinking and smoking. With actress Ellie Bamber (frame from the film). Photo: UPI Russia

- Are the skills acquired in the process of preparing for the role useful in real life?

While filming Becoming John Lennon, I learned to sing and play the guitar decently. I thought: now I will become the soul of any company. But after the end of filming, he never took the instrument in his hands!

Young Aaron Johnson's romance with director Sam Taylor-Wood began during the filming of Becoming John Lennon. Sam was 42 years old, her lover was 19. The secular party then made bets: after how many weeks, maximum months, their relationship would end. But Sam got pregnant. Then - again. When asked when he fell in love with Samantha, Aaron replies: “From the first day we met, it seems ...”

For me, she has always personified everything that I was looking for in a woman. Success, experience, serious intentions and beauty - all this is with her. And Sam says I have an "old man's brain." Indeed, I love to contemplate the world, to live thoughtfully, not making rash decisions.

- Probably, at the beginning of your relationship there were a lot of spiteful critics who tried to give advice?

I have never consulted anyone about my personal life. This is my decision, and it does not concern anyone else, except for my wife and children. On early stage of our relationship, we were recommended to come to events in different machines, use different exits from restaurants, but we never followed the rules. We have nothing to hide. At first, of course, the articles in the magazines pissed me off. Everyone focused on the age difference. And I thought: “What the hell is the “age difference”? I fell in love, what else do they need?

Sam says I have an "old man's brain." Indeed, I love to contemplate the world. With wife Sam Taylor-Johnson. Photo: UPI Russia

When your wife took on the adaptation of the controversial book "50 Shades of Grey", you were not offended that you were not invited to leading role?

Sam and I are professionals. I understand that some roles just do not fit.

- Why did you decide that you are not suitable for the role of Christian Grey?

I was too young. Christian was supposed to be in his 30s and Jamie Dornan was the perfect fit. You see, Sam had no room for error. At that time, the wife was unemployed for four years. For her, this offer was a unique chance: the project could make her a very cool, highly paid Hollywood director or, in case of failure, completely destroy her professionally. She had 24 hours to respond. Other eminent directors were in line: Darren Aronofsky, Gus Van Sant, Joe Wright. She was the only woman on this list and topped it.

- Do you think the film was a success? Why didn't Sam take on a sequel?

IN financial plan he became successful. But Sam had a serious disagreement with the author of the book.

Would you like to work with Samantha on set again?

Undoubtedly. But not over the screen version female romance. We are still looking for a suitable scenario. We will probably return to the shooting in our native Britain, where they filmed Becoming John Lennon.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Family: wife - Sam Taylor-Johnson, director; daughters - Wilda Ray (6 years old) and Romi Hiro (4 years old)

Education: studied at the Jackie Palmer Theater School

Career: starred in more than 30 films and TV series, including: "Become John Lennon", "Kick-Ass", "Anna Karenina", "Godzilla", "Avengers: Age of Ultron"

A tattoo with the inscription "Sam" was Aaron's birthday present to his wife. Director and screenwriter Sam Taylor-Johnson turned 50 yesterday.

Happy birthday! Forever in my heart,

Posted by Aaron on Instagram, showing off his beefy torso and, of course, his tattoo to fans.

Aaron and Sam Taylor-Johnson, February 2017 Actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson fell in love with 42-year-old Sam Taylor-Johnson when he was only 19. The future wife and at that time already a successful director entrusted the inexperienced, aspiring actor with the main role in her new film - the role of young John Lennon. This work was a breakthrough for Aaron both in his career and in his personal life. A fleeting romance was not part of the actor's plans: Aaron dreamed of family happiness. Sam did not resist and accepted the proposal of her lover.

I fell in love with her at first sight. I just realized that I want to be with her always. I wanted children - we have children, and I am very happy about all this.

Before her fateful meeting with Aaron, Sam beat cancer twice and ended up with two children after her divorce from her first husband.

Photo from Instagram Sam Taylor-Johnson: "Me and my baby number one. After I beat cancer. It was a real blessing" In July 2010, Aaron and Sam had their first common daughter, Wilda Ray, and in January 2012, their second daughter, Romi Hiro, was born. As Aaron admits, he does not notice the 23-year age difference.

I don't feel any difference at all. Close people call me Benjamin Button - all our friends believe that I am old at heart, and Sam, on the contrary, is young,

The actor told in an interview with Saturday's Times magazine.

Johnson is married to Sam Taylor-Wood. The couple got married in June 2012. Around the same time, Johnson changed his last name from Johnson to Taylor-Johnson. Much has been said about the couple's age difference - the wife is more than 20 years older than her husband - but they seem to be oblivious to this fact. They have two daughters, Vilda Rosa and Romi Gero. A more detailed biography of the actor is presented.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson and his wife Samantha were spotted on the snowy slopes in Vancouver, Canada. Married couple, whose age difference is 24 years, apparently looking for adventure! Instead of skimming through the snow, the couple tried out ziplining in the 21C heat. Although the snowy surroundings looked cool, the warm air allowed Aaron to wear shorts.

The young British actor kept a low profile, wearing a gray hooded baseball cap and green camouflage shorts. Sam was dressed a little more conservatively in jeans and a heavy navy blue blazer. She also wore a baseball cap that covered her eyes in true Hollywood style with oversized sunglasses. Sam's 15-year-old daughter Angelica joined her mother and stepdad on the trip, and seemed totally okay with the couple's public displays of passion. Even with their equipment during the rope crossing, the lovers couldn't help but stop to kiss each other. Aaron was in Vancouver because he started filming the new blockbuster Godzilla, which is expected to be released in May 2014.

The Taylor-Johnson couple have been in Vancouver for the past few months while Aaron Taylor-Johnson is working on the Godzilla movie. In any case, they didn't even have a day off. Sam Taylor-Johnson and her daughters, Jessie Phoenix, Vilda Rai, and Romi Hiro, came to share Father's Day with Aaron. While dad was working, his daughters tried to put on makeup. When Aaron is not working, he devotes a lot of time to his family. They live in a rented house, they chat with their neighbors, they watch a channel about world science, they have brunch on the weekends, they don't pay attention to themselves. special attention and therefore no one understands who they are...

Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Colin Firth attended a private dinner, hosted by Tom Ford to celebrate his new London Collections: Men show in London, England. The men were joined by their charming wives Sam Taylor-Johnson and Livia Firth. Colin worked with Tom on A Single Man in 2009.

And here is the long-awaited New film Aaron's "Kick-Ass 2" is currently in post-production and is expected to be released on June 28th.

26-year-old British actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who is known to many for the films "Under cover of night" and "Becoming John Lennon", never ceases to amaze his fans. In 2012, a young and rather attractive actor married a woman who is 23 years older than him, and today it became known that he dedicated a tattoo to her.

Aaron unusually congratulated his wife on her birthday

On March 4, the famous British screenwriter, photographer, director and artist Samantha Taylor-Johnson celebrated her 50th birthday. On this occasion, her husband Aaron decided to commit interesting act- get a tattoo with the name of his wife "Sam" in the heart area. The actor captured the changes on his chest on a phone camera and posted the picture on the Internet, signing it like this:

"You will always be in my heart. Happy birthday dear Sam!

Sympathy that quickly turned into love

Aaron and Samantha met at an audition for Becoming John Lennon in 2009. Then the director tried to pick up an actor who was still unknown, but had considerable talent. At that time, Sam was already 42 years old, she raised 2 small children from her first marriage and tried to forget her recent cancer. Aaron was a 19 year old boy who was just getting started acting career and dreamed about big family. In an interview, Taylor-Johnson said the following about Samantha:

“When I saw her, I realized that this is not just sympathy, but love for life. I really wanted to start a family with her, and for Sam to become the mother of our children. That's how it all happened. I am very grateful to her for that."

In addition to Aaron, Samantha also speaks about an unexpected marriage with a young actor. This is how she remembers those days:

“Aaron struck me immediately and instantly. At the first meeting, I caught myself thinking that I like him. Then everything developed so rapidly that there is simply no point in dividing it into some periods. A year after we met, our first common daughter, Wilda Ray, was already born, and in 2012, the second, Romi Hiro. Now I'm happier than ever."

By the way, in his interviews, Aaron Taylor-Johnson quite often compares himself with Benjamin Baton, believing that he is old at heart. But his wife Sam, on the contrary, reminds him of a 20-year-old girl.

Last update: 11/23/2018

Wife, four daughters, three dogs, five chickens... the 26-year-old actor carries life experience a man who is at least twice as old as he is.

As I waited for Aaron Taylor-Johnson to arrive at a diner on the Eastside in Los Angeles, I caught myself thinking that I felt like I was going on a blind date. You have no idea who's going through that door now.

At 26, Aaron has almost 20 years of acting experience behind him, he knows and can do much more than most of his peers. It's funny that we saw each other in last time in 2014, when he was the real life incarnation of his superhero named Quicksilver, whom he successfully embodied in the film Avengers: Age of Ultron. Before that, I ran into him in a metamorphosis before Anna Karenina, where he later played Count Vronsky (white-haired and mustachioed), even earlier, he perfectly got used to the image of a vindictive super-nerd in the Kick-Ass series ) (you could see him somewhere under an avalanche of white curls).

Well, the most significant for his breakthrough in cinema was the work on the role of young John Lennon with a cigarette behind his ear, in the film "Become John Lennon" (Eng. Nowhere Boy - "Boy from Nowhere"), which was shot in 2009 by a British film director Sam Taylor-Wood, who later became his wife and mother of his two daughters.

The experience gained on the set of the film "Nowhere Boy" changed the course of Taylor-Johnson's life diametrically and pushed him to become more responsible and courageous. He became a father at 18, and married at 22, having adopted two stepdaughters into the family and taking new surname(he and Taylor-Wood both changed their last names to Taylor-Johnson).

Since then, he has played a leading role in a kind of Hollywood home idyll, tending his own vegetable garden and chicken coop, looking into the store that sells organic meat, preparing fresh eggs from his chickens for the daughters of Mses Wylda Rae (eng. Mses Wylda Rae), which six and Romy Hero, who is five and loves his wife Sam very much. For the record, she's 23 years older than him.

First season awards

Last year, he had to resort to the services of a shaman who cleansed his body from the effects of a three-month binge. He had to drink so seriously in order to turn into the Texas psychopath Ray, whom he played in the film "Under cover of night" (eng. Nocturnal Animals, second title " Nocturnal Animals») Tom Ford. Like Ray he spent most 2015, reminiscent of the Lion King's homeless brother.

Then he metamorphosed into a smart man dressed in immaculately pressed Tom Ford suits and embarked on a six-month tour of the awards and nominations season for Animals of the Night. His next role as a military sniper in the soon-to-be-released film The Wall added large doses of Pabst Blue Ribbon to his diet.

When we met today, it seemed to me that he had somehow changed again. He chuckles when I share with him my impressions of my first impression of his appearance- dressed as a retired military man from the 50s - khaki trousers, a short-sleeved shirt with a motorcycle image over a white T-shirt, under which a pair of army dog tags was hidden on a chain. “The worst thing was when my daughter was just graduating kindergarten, and she had to make an album about the impressions of the past year with her photographs,” he says. “Each of her photos was: she, her mother and some new guy: With short hair, with a long, with a mustache and without a mustache, a bearded, skinny soldier ... The question arose: "Who the hell is this?"

If The Boy From Nowhere was the movie that made the difference greatest influence on the personal life of the former Johnson, the work "Under cover of night" became a turning point for his career. After the film was released at the end of 2016, Taylor-Johnson appeared before the eyes of the viewer in the form of a mature man. His hero, the rapist and murderer Ray, is the depraved heart of the film, as magnetic as it is sadistic, as powerful as it is comely, somewhat similar to Travis Bickle from Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver".

It is a pity that he was not nominated for an Oscar, and the Bafft Award (eng. "BAFTA") that year was received by Dev Patel (eng. Dev Patel). But he is by no means disappointed. But rather, on the contrary, he is cheerful and energetic, like a person who can finally take a breath after his first season of awards. “In some ways, I even feel relieved,” he says. “And here the question is not that I do not know how to be grateful or gloat. It's just hard for me to handle that level of attention."

How a hero is born

Awards ceremonies "absolutely dumbfound" him. At the Golden Globes, he delivered a refreshingly informal speech in his prosaic Baginghamshire way, thanking his wife "for putting up with me - I wasn't very nice in that part." Taylor-Johnson hates talking about himself. He would rather show me a video on his daughter's iPhone performing a unique dance to the song Queen"Another One Bites The Dust", or a photograph of the wife doing an advanced arched back yogic pose against a wall.

He is noble and unpretentious, from that category of people who really reveal themselves only in the circle of close people or working for film set with complete dedication. And it's hard to believe that such crazy energy can come from such a reserved person, but then let's just remember Robert De Niro.

Taylor-Johnson has no problem making speeches in public, he just doesn't feel the need to, he has an incredible combination of youthful urgency with emotional maturity, a sensitive soul and a powerful body. In "The Wall" he plays a soldier american army, who is literally backed against a wall by an unseen Iraqi sniper after his partner, played by John Cena, is killed. As a result, the thriller promises to be psychologically intense, and Taylor-Johnson maintains this state for most of the film alone. The Wall was directed by Doug Liman, best known for his work on the Jason Bourne series.

“When you get used to the role and are in a state of such psychological stress, in the end you carry it with you and you cannot get rid of it on your own”

Aaron was actively preparing for this role. Immersed in post-traumatic research stress disorder, the actor found friends with army connections, including Bradley Cooper (eng. Bradley cooper), who starred in the movie "Sniper" (eng. American Sniper - "American Sniper"). He introduced Aaron to war veteran Jacob Schick, one of the founders of 22Kill, an organization that was created as a support group for ex-servicemen (named after approximately 22 suicides committed on US Veterans Day between 1999 and 2010).

He subsequently traveled to an event hosted by 22Kill in Boston. "These guys are very simple people' he says. “Some of them have been to hell and come back. It was the most exciting event for [eyewitnesses]: the men you consider to be very courageous military personnel openly talk about their struggle with PTSD (post-traumatic stress syndrome). Some have gone so far as to put a gun to their head, many have had suicidal thoughts, they are kept afloat by camaraderie, friendships, jokes ... "

Nick Irving "The Reaper" (famous for his 33 confirmed kills in his first three months in Iraq) is "one of my best comrades now. He's a super cool dude, a real darling." In the course of his research, Taylor-Johnson also received support Nobel laureate- War photographer Lindsey Addario (born Lynsey Addario) and Jane Horton (eng. Jane Horton), a veteran and family lawyer, whom he met by chance during training at the shooting range. Her husband, Christopher Horton, was a sniper who was killed in combat in Iraq.

He also spent time with sniper trainees at Fort Chaffee in Arkansas. “Not many of them go through the six-week course,” says Taylor-Johnson. “10 graduates out of 30. One of the targets was at a distance of 1356 meters to hit the target. you must know all about the wind and the earth's axis. It's just amazing." All these acquaintances and meetings had a serious impact on the character of his character in the film.

Taylor-Johnson worked hard on increasing his weight before the film in order to get a military physique. He managed to add 13 kilograms to his 85 kilograms. “It was food and the gym, food and the gym,” he says. “But this weight gain was very different from the system I followed for The Avengers. There I consumed pure, high quality protein to look healthy. And here it was shit. I constantly ate at fast foods and felt like an SUV stuffed with canned goods.

In order to fully integrate with the image of his character, as in the case of Ray, Taylor-Johnson spent two months living and breathing his character, even smelling like him. “I used crates of cheap beer,” he says. “Tobacco-flavored chewing gum was the worst. In order to periodically spit picturesquely, he learned to accumulate saliva in his mouth. I got a terrible, rancid breath. My wife was horrified by all this.”

The Taylor-Johnson way of life seems to be based on some kind of cycle of abuse and purification. In order to embody the disgusting Ray, he smoked, got high on beer, watched documentaries about serial killers and didn't cut his nails for three months to "feel the toxicity inside and out." And after such a “transformation”, he did not want to bring this negative energy into the house to his wife and children, and after filming, he set about “expelling Ray”.

“When you get into a role and you’re in that kind of psychological stress, you end up carrying it around with you and you can’t get rid of it on your own,” he says. “I realized that I needed a detox from all this and turned to a very gifted female shaman who practices reiki and acupuncture [acupuncture]. This was not my first experience of such a cleaning, I had already performed this procedure, after working with Oliver Stone on the film Savages, where he played a drug dealer.

The secret of balance

Eventually, after celebrating the end of The Wall, he got sober again in January. "I'm not in AA or NA, and I don't belong to any of those organizations," he says. "I can just stop." All of this metamorphosis of getting into character is one big reason why Aaron Taylor Johnson doesn't work on more than one project a year. He needs “two or three months to smoothly transform from one character to another. In addition, there are plenty of everyday things like gardening or cooking, or just spending time with your kids.” IN this moment he lives through the Japanese culinary period and gets very animated when he starts talking about his ancient clay pots.

“I stock up on fresh seaweed, which I cook on rice with toasted sesame oil and sake,” he says. “I add a couple of eggs to this dish while it cooks, then daikon sprouts. And of course, the final chord in the form of an unsurpassed presentation of the whole dish. He also tidied up a plot of land on the slope of his garden. “I like it when peace reigns in my world,” he says. “Constantly being in the acting environment is extremely difficult, jumping from project to project, you can just go crazy. Half of my friends go crazy and start burning bridges with alcohol and drugs." For an actor whose career began at the age of six, he looks surprisingly level-headed.

"I like being a father more than being an actor."

Taylor-Johnson grew up in Holmer Green in Buckinghamshire. At the age of six he entered theater school in order to study drama, participate in auditions, study jazz dance, acrobatics and singing. Three years later, in the West End, he was already playing the murdered son of Macduff on the same stage with Rufus Sewall in the role of Macbeth. At the age of 15, he left school and went to Los Angeles to meet Hollywood agents. In 2006, the casting for the role of Young Eisenheim in The Illusionist was successfully passed (eng. The Illusionist), then there was the role of Dave Lizewski in the film about superheroes Kick-Ass by Matthew Vaughn, for which two years later he was nominated for BAFTA and several more awards.

He went through his "self-destructive period" two years before he turned 18. "I just went a little crazy," he told me in 2014 during our Godzilla interview. “I spent a lot of money and lived for two years that I can't even remember. It's about about how there comes a time when you have to strip everything off of yourself before you can move on, right? Because if I hadn't done it then, I'd be broken now. I wouldn't be able to take care of a family, or control myself, or feel responsible enough to do what I do."

Mr. Taylor-Johnson's friends call him Benjamin Button, the man who aged backwards. “I like being a father more than being an actor,” he says. "I'm still thinking about changing careers."

He and his wife take turns working on projects, one stays at home while the other is on set. But when Sam Taylor-Wood directed the filming of Fifty Shades of Grey, the whole family went to Canada with her. Most recently, she has produced and directed two episodes of a Netflix series, psychological thriller"Gypsy" (Eng. Gypsy).

At the end of our conversation, it turned out that the Taylor-Johnsons were working together again on several mysterious projects, a dance piece on the list, they also bought the rights to a book, and are working on a film that could appear at Cannes this year.

How to keep a woman happy

He admits that in addition to "a wife, four daughters, two female dogs and three female chickens," he also has his own feminine energies. "I'm happy to say I'm a feminist," he says. “Being a feminist is simply believing in equal rights. Man, woman, gay, straight, white, black, we're all equal." Just now Taylor Johnson handed over miniatures of all the posters that were on the global women's march in January to decorate the family bathroom. “When they become young women, they will be ready,” he says of his daughters. “They have a great role model - their mother is one of the strongest, most independent women who I know."

Note to the reader: despite the statement of support for feminism, he has not ceased to be a real man in this family. He also continues to give flowers to his young ladies. I suppose he could probably write an instruction booklet called How to Keep a Woman Happy. He looks a little confused. “I don’t really analyze our relationship,” he says. “I just know it works. I just feel loved and taken care of. We have a very deep connection. We're just in sync."