Tragic Details About Aaron Taylor Johnson

Thanks to mainstream films like "Kick-Ass" and "Avengers: Age of Ultron," Aaron Taylor-Johnson is one of the most successful actors in Hollywood today. Before achieving worldwide superstardom, though, he was a working actor for much longer than you might think, having performed in front of the camera since childhood. And with such a long career, it's no surprise that he's experienced some hardship along the way.

Taylor-Johnson's success in the film industry turned into both a gift and a curse. The business gave the "Kraven the Hunter" star a surprisingly high net worth so that he and his family would never have to worry about money. Additionally, his passion for movies led him to meeting his wife, Sam, who he's been married to since 2012. But for all the good fortune acting has blessed him with, there are certain rough patches in his life that his fame and fortune just can't fix. In fact, there are some tragedies that his accomplishments have only made worse.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson didn't get to enjoy the stability of a nuclear family household that his and his wife's children now do. His father, civil engineer Robert, divorced his mother Sarah, when he was 6 years old. Afterward, the "Nocturnal Animals" star went to live with his mother, although he continued having a relationship with his father.

Taylor-Johnson's passion for acting wasn't genetic, however. According to the star himself, Sarah didn't have a stable career that could provide a comfortable lifestyle for her family back then, so he took up acting at a young age because it helped pay the bills. "My mum stayed at home," Taylor-Johnson once told At Large. "She worked odd jobs here and there so we could get by. I would do commercials, which would help pay for activities for my sis and me. And if I got a good job, it would pay for a holiday."

Sarah, who also had experience working as a costume designer in theater, would further encourage her son's acting pursuits by accompanying him on movie sets. Given her support, it's easy to see why he holds her in such high regard. He credits his upbringing for how he's approached relationships with the other women in his life as well. "I was raised by women," Taylor-Johnson said in a 2014 interview with The Standard. "Now I'm raising women. I was always better around girls. I live in an all-female household. I even have two female dogs ... It's funny how that turned out."

Aaron Taylor-Johnson faced a lot of the trials and tribulations that many child actors go through almost as a dark rite of passage. Before making his official on-screen debut in one of his first projects, "Tom & Thomas," he earned his stripes the traditional way many actors did: Doing TV commercials and stage plays. The live performance that left a lasting impression on a young Aaron's mind, however, was "Macbeth." In a 2023 interview with Esquire, Aaron recalled having to strip completely naked for the audience when acting out a chilling death scene. Seeing as it was a recurring production, Aaron had to bare himself to the audience for several weeks. "We're not talking wearing swimming trunks — I was fully naked," he emphasized.

Taylor-Johnson not only gave the impression that the memory still bothered him to a degree, but also that there were other similar memories he stockpiled thanks to his experiences in the film industry. "Listen, I think in hindsight you have to unpack a lot from what my childhood was, in an adult industry, in a time like—" he trailed off before adding, "Did I feel uncomfortable? Yeah, I probably did."

Additionally, Taylor-Johnson was sometimes pressured by studio execs to become a certain type of actor. But even at his young age, he wasn't willing to sacrifice his own artistic integrity to compromise. "You felt like you were being sold," he said. His early lessons in Hollywood taught him to trust his instincts, which has served him well given where his career stands.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson briefly led a lifestyle that could have caused him to tragically die young like other child stars. Fortunately, he reined himself in before he reached that point. The actor confided that he was drinking heavily and clubbing by the time he turned 15. Before long, he lost a significant chunk of money that he'd earned from acting. Taylor-Johnson theorized that the source of his chaotic lifestyle was a little bit of imposter syndrome. "I was having a bit of trouble, transitioning, understanding why I was so ... the one that was so ... successful maybe," he told The Standard.

But he asserted it might've been necessary to get this rebellious period out of the way early or else it might've emerged when he was an adult. Nowadays, he's able to enjoy a mature marriage with his wife because he purged all of his temptations in his adolescent years. His deep and personal confession also adds a lot more context to a statement he gave to Rolling Stone in 2024, where he defended some of his life choices. "What you gotta realize is that what most people were doing in their 20s, I was doing when I was 13," he stated.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson claimed that he cleaned up his lifestyle right before shooting "Nowhere Boy," where he ironically met his future wife, Sam Taylor-Johnson. Sam, who was 42 at the time, was directing the project, and she cast a then 18-year-old Aaron in would be one of his breakthrough features. Sparks quickly flew between the two, even drawing attention from the cast and crew on the "Nowhere Boy" set. Eventually, Aaron declared to Sam that he was going to marry her one day. "We had never been on a date, or even kissed," she told Harper's Bazaar.

Later, the "Godzilla" star proved himself to be a man of his word. "And a year to the minute after we met, exactly one year to the minute, I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me," he said. Afterward, Sam expanded her family with her new husband. In addition to the two children she had from a previous marriage, Sam and Aaron also share Wylda Rae and Romy Hero, who were born in 2010 and 2012 respectively.

Even though the pair seem to have a happy marriage, their significant age difference made their relationship controversial the moment they hit it off. Some find it inappropriate, even floating around the theory that Sam manipulated a young Aaron at an early age without him realizing it. Aaron and Sam normally tune out the rumors. However, the young actor admitted that there are moments when the gossip bothers him. "I find it really interesting that so many people think age is a factor," Aaron said in an interview with HuffPost. "How do people even tell the age of anyone anymore? It's bizarre."

Aaron Taylor-Johnson knows what it's like to perform stunts in movies. But in the Brad Pitt film "Bullet Train," an action sequence he was performing quickly went off the rails, which he blamed on his keto diet. Usually, the regimen is meant to encourage weight loss and improve physical health. But Taylor-Johnson took the diet to such an extreme that it left him particularly vulnerable to an injury he sustained during a harrowing fight scene. "Because I got all scrawny and lean for this, so I basically had low blood sugar levels," Taylor-Johnson told Variety. "We were in a fight sequence and I get drop-kicked across the room. And the one sharp bit of the corner where there wasn't any padding took a chunk out of my hand."

He fainted after the injury. By the time he woke up, Taylor-Johnson was eager to pick up where he left off. But he was told his injuries might've been more severe than he realized. "And then I came back and was like 'Should we go again?'" he recalled. "And they were like 'No, no, no. You gotta go get stitches at the hospital.' So then I spent the night in the hospital." The on-set injury is a sobering reminder that all it takes is one mistake for an actor to put themselves in harm's way. Fortunately, all Taylor-Johnson needed was a trip to the hospital before he was able to resume filming.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).