Woody Allen Talks About His 'Paternal' Relationship With Soon-Yi

In a new interview, Woody Allen discusses his relationship with wife Soon-Yi Previn. He says she “responded to someone paternal.”

Yup, that’s what he told NPR (h/t Vanity Fair):

I lucked out in my last relationship. I’ve been married now for 20 years and it’s been good. I think that was probably the odd factor that I’m so much older than the girl I married. I’m 35 years older, and somehow, through no fault of mine or hers, the dynamic worked. I was paternal. She responded to someone paternal. I liked her youth and energy. She deferred to me, and I was happy to give her an enormous amount of decision making just as a gift and let her take charge of so many things. She flourished. It was just a good luck thing.

Asked to recap his thought process back in the ‘80s, he added, “I started the relationship with her and I thought it would just be a fling. It wouldn’t be serious, but it had a life of its own,” he added. “And I never thought it would be anything more. Then we started going together, then we started living together, and we were enjoying it.”

Interviewer Sam Fragoso also asked whether he considered himself a “good person.” Allen replied:

I would consider myself … decent as I got older. When I was younger I was less sensitive, in my 20s. But as I got older and began to see how difficult life was for everybody, I had more compassion for other people. I tried to act nicer, more decent, more honorable. I couldn’t always do it. When I was in my 20s, even in my early 30s, I didn’t care about other people that much.