Woody Allen Says the Real Reason He Married Soon-Yi Is ‘Strictly Financial’
In 1997, Woody Allen shocked the world when he married a woman who was his girlfriend’s adopted daughter. Many fans were not happy to hear that the award-winning actor married Soon-Yi Previn, but he refused to let the criticism to deter him from his decision.
He and his wife — who is 35 years younger than him — have been married for over two decades and still seem to be as happy as ever. In his new memoir, Allen finally explained exactly why he decided to marry Previn when he did. And even though he and his wife still look like they are madly in love, their decision to marry had nothing to do with romance.
Woody Allen’s career
Allen has been in the entertainment industry for over six decades and is known as one of the most talented writers, directors, and actors in Hollywood. Allen started out as a comedy writer in the 1950’s.
He was first hired by NBC to write for the show, NBC Comedy Hour in Los Angeles. A few years later, he continued his comedy career by performing as a stand-up comic.
In the 1960s, Allen started to venture onto the big screen. The first movie that he wrote, directed and starred in was Take the Money and Run. After that, he continued to have one of the most prolific careers in Hollywood and became known as one of the most talented actors and writers in the world.
Woody Allen’s controversial relationship
Allen had been involved in a few different rocky relationships in his lifetime, but none of them compare to the long-term — and dysfunctional — relationship he had with actress, Mia Farrow. The two got together in 1979.
At the time that they met, Farrow had two biological children and one daughter that she adopted from South Korea: Soon-Yi. During their relationship, the couple had adopted a child together and had one biological child together. Even though they acted as a happy blended family, they never officially got married or ever even lived together.
Their relationship went from bad to worse in 1991 when Farrow found naked pictures of Soon-Yi, who was 21 years old at the time, in Allen’s home. Even though Allen had sort of been like a step-dad to Soon-Yi for the previous 12 years, he admitted that he and Farrow’s daughter did, in fact, engage in a romantic relationship.
Allen and Farrow obviously broke up and soon after that. He and Soon-Yi publicly admitted that they were currently in a relationship.
Soon-Yi and Allen continued to date and decided to officially tie the knot in 1997. Today, the couple remains married and together, and they have adopted two children.
Why did Woody Allen decide to marry Soon-Yi?
According to Page Six, Allen just recently released a book entitled, Apropos of Nothing. In his book, he talks about his personal life, including his marriage to Soon-Yi. According to Allen, neither he nor Soon-Yi initially wanted to get married, but they had eventually decided to tie the knot for “financial reasons.”
“As far as marriage was concerned, neither of us had any great need to formalize our relationship,” Allen wrote. “We both felt that no contract is worth the paper it’s printed on if the parties are not happy. We loved each other and there was no need to resort to legislature. We would definitely not wed, and that was that. And then we married. Why? Not for romantic reason but strictly financial.”
He then said that the age difference worried him because he was afraid that he may die a lot sooner than she would. And in the event that he passed away before her, he wanted to make sure that she had plenty of money to last her the rest of her life.
The only way that he could be sure that she would inherit all of his money and possessions after he died was to marry her. This way, he no longer has to worry if she and their children will be taken care of after he dies.
