Aaron Taylor-Johnson, 33, defends marriage to wife, 57, who he met as a teenager

Age gap relationships in Hollywood still seem to captivate the public, although they are less taboo than they used to be. 

For British actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who met his wife when he was just a teenager, judgment is par for the course. "What you gotta realize," he told Rolling Stone UK, "is that what most people were doing in their twenties, I was doing when I was 13."

Taylor-Johnson famously met his wife Sam on the set of the 2009 film "Nowhere Boy," her directorial debut. He would have been either 18 or 19 at the time. Sam was 42, making her 23 years his senior.

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The couple quickly fell in love, announcing their engagement at the film's premiere in October. The following year, the couple welcomed their first daughter. They married in 2012.

"You’re doing something too quickly for someone else? I don’t understand that," Taylor-Johnson said of the ongoing narrative. "What speed are you supposed to enjoy life at? It’s bizarre to me."

Including Sam's two children from a previous marriage, the couple share 4 daughters together, who Taylor-Johnson loves dearly.

"You realize it’s your job to protect the purest, most innocent thing that’s come into the world," he shared of becoming a parent. "And it’s your duty to be their role model. You are going to be reflected in their choices later on in life, from who their partners are to how they carry themselves in the world."  

He has the same level of protectiveness for his wife, whom he worked with again on the 2018 film, "A Million Little Pieces." Public reception was not great; the movie has a 27% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 

"There’s a protectiveness that I feel; I think it’s really difficult. There’s also part of me that feels like if something didn’t work, I’m the one that’s responsible." 

Sam not only directed, she wrote the film, while Taylor-Johnson starred.

"People see and perceive this thing around my career, and that’s OK," he told the outlet. "But I’m just trying to juggle my family and my work. I’m doing normal life; dentist appointments."

"Career doesn’t necessarily take a back seat, but it takes a different thought behind the choices that you make. But you also discover characters you’re drawn to because of that, you’re not just some 20-year-old anymore. You unlock some secret thing," he stated. 

It's part of the reason why he's turned down so many roles - both in television and film - knowing his family is a priority. 

"I don’t want a jobbing career," the young actor admitted.