Sam Taylor-Johnson says she and her husband Aaron Taylor-Johnson "couldn't fathom the fascination" with their 24-year age gap.
Sam and Aaron Taylor-Johnson didn't get criticism of their age gap
The 'Back to Black' director, 57, married the 'Fall Guy' actor, 34, in 2012, three years after they met on the set of 'Nowhere Boy', and the couple didn't understand why people were so obsessed with their ages for a while.
Appearing on BBC Radio 4's 'This Cultural Life', she said: "I guess that interest was more when we got together, which was now 14 years – at the beginning, was quite intense.
"And that sort of fascination, because he's younger than me, which you know, we couldn't really fathom the fascination. But I guess it's sort of gone away a little bit.
"Mostly when I'm doing press and things like this it sort of resurges a little bit. But yeah, I guess people want to understand things when they can't. They want to pick up art when they can't fathom what a certain love story that doesn't fit in a box is."
The 'Fifty Shades of Grey' helmer recently insisted their age difference is "never" noticeable in their relationship.
Although she acknowledged that makes them "a bit of an anomaly" compared to most other couples, she doesn't understand why it's still a big deal.
Asked if their age gap ever shows in terms of different interests or reference points, she told The Guardian's Saturday magazine: “No, it never does. I mean, it’s coming up now because you’re asking.
"And it comes up on the outside perspective of people who don’t know us, because I guess people will always …
“We’re a bit of an anomaly, but it’s that thing: after 14 years you just think, surely by now it doesn’t really matter?”
Sam - who has Angelica, 27, and Jessie, 18, with ex-husband Jay Jopling and Wylda, 13, and Romy, 12, with Aaron - never hesitated about getting involved with a much younger man.
She said: “If I had been cynical for a second, it wouldn’t have worked. If I had questioned anything, it would never have worked. I’m quite instinctual. I’ve gone feet-first into everything in my life. I’m always, ‘This seems amazing’, and I jump straight in and go through the experience, whether good or bad.
"It’s definitely a ‘F***it, let’s go with it’ approach. And I’m a great believer that the heart overrides everything. Love conquers all.”
Tagged in Sam Taylor-Johnson