Morning:
6°c
We don't mind the age gap say family of Sam Taylor-Wood's fiancé
Felix Allen, Evening StandardUpdated 10:01am on 4 Nov 2009
The family of teenage British actor Aaron Johnson said today they were “delighted” at his plans to marry artist and film director Sam Taylor-Wood — despite their 23-year age gap.
Engagement: Taylor-Wood and Johnson
The couple, who announced their engagement on Friday, began seeing each other after Taylor-Wood cast Johnson, 19, as a young John Lennon in her debut film, Nowhere Boy.
Today the actor's father Robert Johnson, a civil engineer from High Wycombe, told the Standard: “We are all delighted for them and fully endorse their engagement.”
Mr Johnson said he was not concerned that his son had decided to marry a woman more than twice his age: “It doesn't bother us a bit. We have met Sam and she will make a good future daughter-in-law.”
Taylor-Wood, 42, a former Turner Prize nominee and a key figure in the Young British Artists movement, split from her art dealer husband Jay Jopling, 46, last year.
The Standard revealed her relationship with Johnson in May after they appeared at the Cannes Film Festival, where she was promoting Nowhere Boy, which is released on Boxing Day. Johnson has won praise for his role in the film, which recounts Lennon's early years and relationship with his mother and Aunt Mimi.
