Director Woody Allen, 84, is talking candidly about his 22-year marriage to his adopted step-daughter Soon-Yi Previn, 49.
Soon-Yi is the adopted daughter of actress Mia Farrow and pianist Andre Previn. Allen and Farrow were partners for 12 years, during which time he became Soon-Yi’s stepfather.
The filmmaker famously made headlines at age 56 when he revealed he was dating then- 21-year-old Soon-Yi.
“I admit, it didn’t make sense when our relationship started,” Allen told The Daily Mail in a recent interview. “On the surface, we looked like an irrational match. I was much older, and she was an adopted kid.
“It looked to the outside world that it was an exploitative situation – that I would exploit her as an older predatory male, and she would exploit me for whatever I had. That was never the case. In the past, I had always gone out with actresses, but for whatever inexplicable reason, with Soon-Yi, it worked.”
The couple has since adopted two children together, and he said being a father is “important to me.”
“I have calmed down since I got married,” he said. “I’ve got rid of many of my more neurotic traits, although I still won’t go through tunnels, and I don’t like small spaces or elevators.”
Allen also spoke about the allegations that he sexually abused his own adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow when she was a little girl.
“Of course, I am aware I am the subject of gossip and scandal, but I cannot let it bother me. I live my life. I work. I play jazz. I watch sports. I see my friends. I don’t look up, and I don’t read anything,” he said. “It was a false allegation but a great tabloid drama.
“So what can you do? Even if Dylan was to come out and say she made the whole thing up and was sorry, some people would still believe the story. So I ignore it. I work. I carry on. I surround myself with people I’ve known for a long time, people who know the truth.”
