Soon-Yi never thought of husband Woody Allen as her ‘dad’ despite being just 10 years old when he dated her mum
Warning: This article mentions child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
Soon-Yi Previn admitted that she never thought of Woody Allen as a 'father figure' despite being just 10 years old when he dated her mother.
The couple were recently spotted taking a walk through Los Angeles, which is the first time since the filmmaker has been seen in public since April.
According to PEOPLE, on 27 July, Woody, 89, and 54-year-old Soon-Yi ate at Wolfgang Puck's fine-dining restaurant Spago in Beverly Hills.
Advert
The pair, who married in December 1997, have always been incredibly private about their relationship.
Soon-Yi is Woody's third wife, and before marrying her, he dated actress Mia Farrow in the late 70s.
Mia, who had divorced composer André Previn, was a mother to an expanding brood.
Three were biological with André and four were adopted.
They adopted a further four children in 1978 - two daughters from Vietnam, and a son and daughter from South Korea.
Her six-year-old Korean daughter was named Soon-Yi - the very same person who went on to marry Woody.
Mia and André divorced in 1979, and she went public with Woody, going on to date for 12 years and adopt a daughter from Texas, called Dylan Farrow, and give birth to a son, Ronan Farrow, born Satchel.
However, their relationship would come to a dramatic end when Woody walked out in public with Soon-Yi, declaring her his girlfriend.
Soon-Yi was 10 years old when she first met Woody.
Many theories began to emerge about when the pair got together, and Woody has spoken about his own version of events, but Soon-Yi has also added her two cents in, over two decades since they first got together.
Speaking to Vulture in 2018, Soon-Yi maintained that their love is real, not anything to be ashamed of, and that Woody was never a 'father figure' to her during his relationship with her adoptive mother.
Soon-Yi said: “I already had a father/ He was André Previn, and Mia never married Woody, nor did they ever live together.”
She added: “He was my mother’s boyfriend, plain and simple. He was like a separate entity. I thought Mia had pulled the wool over his eyes by getting him to believe that she was such a great mother. I felt he was not very observant, not worth getting to know. This is why it’s the biggest shock to me that we ended up together.”
Soon-Yi shared that she was ‘madly in love with him’ and ‘completely attracted to him, physically and sexually.’
Explaining that Woody had told her she’d find a boyfriend suitable for her in college, she claimed that she had already decided he was the one for her.
Soon-Yi said: “I came to realise how understanding he was and what a sweet person he was. He grew on me.
“I think Woody liked the fact that I had chutzpah when he first kissed me and I said, ‘I wondered how long it was going to take you to make a move.’ From the first kiss I was a goner and loved him.”
As for Woody, he denies ever being a father to her and said in a 1992 interview with Time Magazine, as per Salon: “I am not Soon-Yi's father or stepfather.”
The filmmaker added: “I've never even lived with Mia.
“I've never in my entire life slept at Mia's apartment, and I never even used to go over there until my children came along seven years ago. I never had any family dinners over there. I was not a father to her adopted kids in any sense of the word.”
While Woody and Soon-Yi both claimed they first recognised their feelings for one another during a soccer game they attended together while she was in college, Mia believes it occurred while she was still a minor and a student in high school. Woody disputed the claim.
Topics: Celebrity, Sex and Relationships
Britt Jones