Woody Allen recently shared insights about his life and marriage in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, published on September 17. He was promoting his book, “What is Baum?”
In the conversation, Allen reflected on his marriage to Soon-Yi Previn, who is 54 and to whom he has been married since 1997.
He described his wife as “the social and cultural driver of marriage,” revealing that she had some thoughts on his recent book, which was released last month. “She didn’t knock on it. She found a high-faltin of my writing style,” he noted.
Allen also touched on the scrutiny surrounding their relationship over the years. Soon-Yi is the adoptive daughter of Mia Farrow, who was Allen’s partner from 1980 to 1992. During that time, he developed a relationship with Soon-Yi when she was just 22 years old.
Although he never formally married Farrow, Allen adopted two of her children—Moses and Dylan—and they share one biological son, investigative journalist Ronan Farrow, who is now 37 and distanced from his father.
The fallout from his relationship with Previn led to a protracted custody battle with Farrow, during which she accused Allen of sexual abuse, allegations he has consistently denied.
He and Previn tied the knot in December 1997 and have since adopted two children together. Allen reflected on his unconventional life, stating he never expected things would unfold this way.
“If I had married someone completely different from my background in New York, someone with no connections, that would have been one situation,” he said, although it seems his choice was, well, different.
Despite their happy marriage lasting nearly three decades, Allen admitted to having many regrets about his career. “I wish I hadn’t made certain movies or done things differently,” he explained. “There are probably 15 out of 50 projects I could pinpoint and say, ‘I would get rid of everything else.'”
Allen keeps his relationship with Previn close to his heart. He mentioned that their ideal date night is a visit to the Lincoln Center theater.
Although they tend to stay out of the public eye, they did attend the opening of Robert Downey Jr.’s Broadway debut, “McNeill,” last October at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre.
