Woody Allen Talks 'Pleasure'-Filled Marriage to Soon-Yi and Loving Miley Cyrus on 'Hannah Montana'

The 80-year-old director also reveals he was 'undiminished' by past scandals.

Woody Allen says he never -- "ever, ever" -- reads anything about himself, which might explain why he still so candidly discusses his marriage and various past controversies, topics that have earned literally nothing but criticism.

"I scrupulously have avoided any self-preoccupation," the 80-year-old director claimed in a Hollywood Reporter cover story, adding that he was "immune" to controversy over his marriage to Soon-Yi Previn.


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The Hollywood Reporter

On his marriage, Allen was asked how Previn, now 45, has changed him as a person, which somehow prompted him to go on a lengthy rant about how he rescued her from, basically, the slums of Korea.

"One of the great experiences of my life has been my wife," he said. "She had a very, very difficult upbringing in Korea: she was an orphan on the streets, living out of trash cans and starving as a 6-year-old. And she was picked up and put in an orphanage. And so I've been able to really make her life better."

"I provided her with enormous opportunities, and she has sparked to them," Allen continued. "She's educated herself and has tons of friends and children and got a college degree and went to graduate school, and she has traveled all over with me now. She's very sophisticated and has been to all the great capitals of Europe. She has just become a different person. So, the contributions I've made to her life have given me more pleasure than all my films."

When pushed again on how their relationship -- one he previously described as "paternal," a cringeworthy choice of words considering Previn is the adopted daughter of Allen's ex, Mia Farrow -- he just kept talking about pleasure.

"She's given me a lot of pleasure. I adore her, and she's given me a wonderful life," he said. "I guess whenever you meet somebody and they're the right person for you, there is a great emotional contribution they make to your life."


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As for Mia's other adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, accusing Allen of sexually abusing her when she was a child, the allegations are brushed over with a passing mention of the fact that Allen and Mia don't keep in touch -- "I think she lives in Connecticut. I'm not sure. Or travels for UNICEF or something." -- and that the scandal never traumatizes him.

"Oh, no," Allen said. "Not in the slightest."

(Allen has previously denied molesting Dylan and was never charged for a crime.)

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The Cafe Society director will next venture into television with a six-part comedy series on Amazon, co-starring Miley Cyrus. While Allen is certainly underselling the show -- "It's not going to start any new religions, I can tell you that," he said -- he happily gushed over Cyrus' work on...Hannah Montana.

"I noticed years ago that my kids would be watching Hannah Montana. And I would say, 'Who is that girl? She's got such a good delivery. You know, she snaps those lines off so well. The show is a silly little show, but she's very good at what she does,'" Allen recalled.

"Then she emerged as a singer, and someone showed me a little clip of hers from Saturday Night Live, and I said, 'It confirms what I always thought about her. She is very good, she is really a talented girl,'" he explained.

Check out Cyrus rocking a long, blonde wig on the TV show's set in the video below.