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S

he was a world-renowned artist, her work

hanging in museums around the world,

selling for outrageous sums in galleries and

at auction, the mother of two young daugh-

ters living in London and spending week-

ends in France or the English countryside.

She had also survived cancer twice. She

was healthy, brilliant, beautiful, and suc-

cessful beyond her wildest dreams. She was

about to direct her first feature film. Her

life was full. Or so she thought.

“I wasn’t expecting anything that day.

Just to see a bunch of actors pretending to be John Lennon.”

He was an actor, working since he was six. He’d been onstage,

in films, on television, successful enough to get by, but the break-

through hadn’t come. He’d been preparing for this audition for six

weeks. If he got the role, it would change his life.

“I remember it very, very clearly. I know exactly what she was

wearing. This white shirt that she still has, that I love. It definitely

changed my life, though not in the way I expected.”

“We were very professional through the entire film.”

“No funny business at all.”

“But everyone on set knew. And as soon as we finished, he told

me he was going to marry me. We had never been on a date, or

even kissed.”

“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.”

“In the 10 years we’ve been together, we’ve only been apart for

maybe two or three days.”

“And those were the worst days of those 10 years.” ➤

INSIDE THE WORLD’S

SEXIEST COUPLE

Between lingering kisses and adoring sidelong glances, artist turned

filmmaker Sam Taylor-Johnson and her dashing actor husband, Aaron Taylor-Johnson,

open up to friend James Frey (whose book A Million Little Pieces they have adapted

for the big screen) about the coup de foudre they experienced when

they first met—and how they keep that spark burning bright more than a decade later.

Photographs by Michael Avedon

Hang time. On Sam: Bra and briefs, Dolce & Gabbana. On Aaron: Shorts, Lululemon.

FASHION EDITOR: Joanna Hillman