Gwyneth Paltrow first came onto the Hollywood scene in the early ‘90s, and it didn't take long for her to reach star status – receiving an Oscar in 1996 for her role in Shakespeare In Love. The actress has since maintained her popularity in pop culture, recently ending her tenure as the Pepper Potts to Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man and finding a supporting role on her husband Brad Falchuk’s Netflix series The Politician. But now Paltrow's mostly known as the Goop lady, and it sounds like she’s officially shedding her performer skin and exfoliating “entrepreneur” as part of her daily routine for good.
In a recent interview ahead of The Goop Lab’s premiere on Netflix later in January, Gwyneth Paltrow was asked if she’d ever catch the acting bug again. Her response to Bazaar:
Literally never—nev-er. When I was acting I really burned myself out. When the flywheel kicked in, I was doing three to five movies a year. I really got to the point where even the little things, like sitting in the van going to set, getting your makeup touch-ups, and everything—I really don’t know that I can bear it. The last movie I starred in, I was pregnant with my daughter. It was a movie called Proof, an adaptation of a play I did in London, and I was like, ‘I’ve had it. I can’t do this anymore.’ I had morning sickness and I was dying, and I had these five-page monologues. So when I had her, I knew I was going to take a big chunk of time off. And I’ve never starred in anything again.
If you’d like any sense of how long ago Gwyneth Paltrow decided she’d say goodbye to acting, her daughter Apple is now 15 years old. By the time Proof rolled around, she had been in over 30 acting projects greatly in the matter of a decade and she decided to take some time off. Since then, she’s not had a lead role in a movie again, but notably found smaller roles in Country Strong, Contagion, Thanks for Sharing and the MCU, of course.
In the past year, it’s been made pretty clear that acting isn’t high on her mind. She frequently forgets her MCU co-stars such as Tom Holland and Sebastian Stan. She even had no idea who Samuel L. Jackson plays in the Marvel series during Avengers: Endgame’s funeral scene, and in one viral moment during Jon Favreau’s The Chef Show, she didn’t realize she was in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Now, in her defense, she does have a massive lifestyle brand to run, and her role in the MCU films haven’t been focused on much else besides Tony Stark. It does sound like she’s continuing to move away from acting altogether. Plus, if she hasn’t technically changed her mind in 15 years and has a successful business to keep her busy, why would she?
The actress’ recent small roles seem to be an exception to the rule. Who would say no to starring with Robert Downey Jr in the Iron Man movies? Plus, her recent television role in The Politician was at the request of her husband, producer Brad Falchuk, who wrote the part with her in mind.
Last year, Gwyneth Paltrow said she wasn’t quitting acting per se, but it wasn’t her main focus anymore. We’ll have to see if she makes any more exceptions in the future! Her show The Goop Lab premieres on Netflix January 24. Check out what other new shows are hitting the streaming platform this month.
