Aaron Taylor-Johnson has said he wouldn’t have wanted Sam Taylor-Johnson to cast him in the Fifty Shades Of Grey movie, just because he’s her husband.

Sam recently quit the Fifty Shades franchise after directing the first movie – with Jamie Dornan starring as S&M-loving billionaire Christian Grey.

Aaron told Marie Claire UK he was “never” even in the running for the role.

He said: “I think there would have been a lot of unhappy fans of the book. We both read it and knew right then that when she went in to direct it, I wouldn’t be the one to step into those shoes. And that was fine. It didn’t feel like one of us was like, ‘I really wanted to do that’…

(Joel Ryan/Invision)
Aaron and wife Sam at the Fifty Shades Of Grey premiere (Joel Ryan/Invision)

“I’m obviously really, really proud of Sam and it was great to see her take that project and make it her own, and not have to feel like just because there’s a role… I feel like I’m too young for that role anyway!”

The 24-year-old actor met Sam, 48, when he starred in her 2009 John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy, and said he instantly knew she was “the one”.

Aaron and Sam at the premiere of Nowhere Boy in 2009 (Tim Ireland/PA)
Aaron and Sam at the premiere of Nowhere Boy in 2009 (Tim Ireland/PA)

Aaron said: “With Sam I just knew. I just knew I wanted kids with her, I wanted to be with her and I wanted to get married to her. I never had that moment like, ‘I want to be an actor,’ but I love being a dad. It’s what I really wanted to be. It’s the reason I wake up in the morning.

“I now actually have a reason to be on this f***ing earth. It’s just changed everything in my perspective. It makes me a happy person, it makes me open my eyes to everything.”

Aaron and Sam have two daughters together, four-year-old Wylda and two-year-old Romy. Aaron is also stepfather to Sam’s two daughters from her previous marriage to art dealer Jay Jopling.

The full interview is available in the May issue of Marie Claire UK, out now.