Who Is Woody Allen’s Wife, ​​Soon-Yi Previn? What to Know About Their Controversial Relationship

Woody Allen married his third wife, Soon-Yi Previn, in 1997.

The Blue Jasmine director was previously in a relationship with Mia Farrow, who adopted 6-year-old Soon-Yi in 1978 while she was married to André Previn. Farrow and Previn divorced in 1979, and Farrow began dating Allen shortly after. At some point during their 12-year relationship, Allen began an affair with Soon-Yi, leading to the actors’ breakup in the early 1990s.

Since marrying, Allen and Soon-Yi have adopted two daughters together, Bechet and Manzie, who have joined them on red carpets like the Venice Film Festival in September 2023.

Soon-Yi became isolated from her mom and siblings after beginning her affair with Allen, who was accused of sexual abuse by his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow in 1992. Allen denied the allegations, stating that Mia coerced Dylan into accusing him of abuse so she could gain custody of her in retribution for him having an affair with Soon-Yi.

As for his family now, Allen shared during a press interview about his 2023 film Coup de Chance that he considers himself “lucky.”

"I was lucky my whole life really. I had two loving parents, I have good friends. I have a wonderful wife and marriage, two children," he said.

From how their affair began to where they are today, here’s everything to know about Woody Allen’s controversial relationship with his wife, Soon-Yi Previn.

Allen and Soon-Yi became especially close when she was a teenager

In Allen’s autobiography Apropros of Nothing, the filmmaker described how his relationship with Soon-Yi began when he took her to a game and realized he was enjoying their conversation “more than I should have,” he wrote.

“Cut to some time later, I'm shooting Husbands and Wives, Soon-Yi comes in from college and I screen The Seventh Seal,” he wrote. “Bergman's film ends and we're alone in my screening room, and quite smoothly, if I do say so myself, I lean in and kiss her."

He continued, "She is complicit in the osculation and to the point, as always, says, 'I was wondering when you were going to make a move.' "

While Allen thought their relationship would be more of a "fling," it quickly progressed.

"Soon-Yi and I thought we could have our little fling, keep it a secret since Soon-Yi wasn't living at home and I lived alone like a bachelor," he said in his autobiography. "I thought it would be a nice experience and Soon-Yi would eventually meet some guy at college and enter a more conventional relationship. I didn't realize how attached to one another we'd already grown."

In February 2021, Mia and Dylan participated in the HBO docuseries Allen v. Farrow, in which they shared their side of the story. In the show, Mia claimed that Allen’s relationship with Soon-Yi started while she was in high school, while he disputed that it was after her first semester of college in December 1991. 

Mia said she initially "encouraged" Allen and Soon-Yi to be closer

Mia and her then-husband André Previn adopted Soon-Yi in 1978 from South Korea. In the docuseries, Mia claimed that she originally struggled to connect with Soon-Yi, who was adopted at an older age than her siblings, explaining that she had to "work very hard over many years" to build a bond with her.

She added that she wanted Allen to have a relationship with her children too after they started dating in 1980, so she “encouraged” him to spend time with Soon-Yi.

"He took the little ones shopping and bought them airplanes and magic tricks," she said in the show. "He started bringing all of them to basketball games. I really encouraged him to go with Soon-Yi, too, because she was really shy."

Once she found out about the relationship, Mia said she blamed Allen for breaking her trust as a father.

"I love her so much and I didn't ever blame her, you know, because she was just a little kid when he came into the family," she said in the second episode of Allen v. Farrow. "She was a little girl. We were family and he was in my home as my partner and as such he had responsibilities. You don't get to have sex with my children. That isn't part of the deal."

Allen and Soon-Yi slammed the documentary after it was released, calling it a “hatchet job riddled with falsehoods” and disputing the claims made in the series, including Dylan’s accusations of abuse.

"Woody and Soon-Yi were approached less than two months ago and given only a matter of days 'to respond.' Of course, they declined to do so," a spokesperson for the couple said in a statement provided to Deadline and other outlets. "As has been known for decades, these allegations are categorically false. Multiple agencies investigated them at the time and found that, whatever Dylan Farrow may have been led to believe, absolutely no abuse had ever taken place."

Allen publicly declared his love for her after their relationship was revealed

After Allen’s 8-month-long affair with Soon-Yi was revealed in the media, he issued a statement that he was in love with her in a press release, per The New York Times.

"Regarding my love for Soon-Yi: It's real and happily all true,” he said. “She's a lovely, intelligent, sensitive woman who has and continues to turn around my life in a wonderfully positive way."

Soon-Yi told Vulture in a September 2018 interview that seeing his statement was the first time she found out that he loved her — but still worried it wasn’t true.

“I only knew that he loved me when he gave the press conference and said it publicly,” she said. “Even then, I wasn’t sure if he meant it. We had never said those words to each other.”

Allen and Soon-Yi got married in 1997

On Dec. 23, 1997, Allen and Soon-Yi tied the knot in the mayor’s office in Venice despite not really believing in the need for an official certificate, they told Vulture.

“You know, I thought it was a slip of paper,” Soon-Yi said. “I find it a silly thing.”

They have now been married for over two decades, a feat neither expected, they told the outlet. However, in that time, Allen said he’s changed for the better thanks to their relationship.

"I have calmed down since I got married," Allen told Mail on Sunday in May 2020. "I've got rid of many of my more neurotic traits, although I still won't go through tunnels and I don't like small spaces or elevators."

Allen and Soon-Yi share two children

After they wed, the couple adopted two daughters, Bechet and Manzie, both named after jazz singers. Adoption was important to Soon-Yi, who said she felt having biological children was selfish when so many needed a home.

“I don’t need kids out there who have similar traits to me and look similar to me and Woody,” she told Vulture. “Why is one’s DNA so special? Why would one keep on breeding when there are so many kids out there who need a loving home?”

While she admitted that she and Allen have different parenting styles — Soon-Yi is the disciplinarian while Allen lets more go — they agreed on the important things when it came to raising their daughters. Soon-Yi chose to focus on being a full-time mom rather than pursuing her own career and focused on making sure the girls enjoyed things she didn’t get to when she was a child, like Broadway shows and museums, she said.

Bechet studied at Bard College, while Manzie got her degree at Whittier College in California. Both joined their dad at the Venice Film Festival in 2023 where he debuted his film Coup de Chance.

Soon-Yi has publicly been by Allen’s side since going public with their relationship

Despite the attention on their affair and marriage, Soon-Yi has not left Allen’s side since they first got together in 1992. She has been seen walking with him around their neighborhood in N.Y.C. and has joined him at various industry events throughout the years.

Together, they enjoy eating breakfast together in the mornings and keeping their social circle small and tight. Soon-Yi told Vulture that the two had not spent a night apart since they got married.

Soon-Yi is estranged from Mia

As of 2021, Mia and Soon-Yi remained estranged. In the final episode of the Allen v. Farrow docuseries, Mia accused Allen of isolating her from her daughter.

"He's weaponized two of my children that he's turned against me," she said, referring to Soon-Yi and her and Allen’s son Moses, who backed Soon-Yi's claim that Mia was abusive to them.

Mia added that she felt the loss of her daughter greatly and struggled for years to recover from it.

"I love Soon-Yi. It took me six years to throw away the Christmas stocking I knitted for her thinking she would come back, but she didn't,” she said.

Soon-Yi explained to Vulture in 2018 that the reason she chose to open up about her life with Allen is because she didn’t approve of the alleged false narrative her mother had painted of the A Rainy Day in New York director.

“I was never interested in writing a Mommie Dearest, getting even with Mia — none of that,” she said. “But what’s happened to Woody is so upsetting, so unjust. [Mia] has taken advantage of the #MeToo movement and paraded Dylan as a victim. And a whole new generation is hearing about it when they shouldn’t.”