Dialogue With Gwyneth Paltrow, Showest 2004 Decade Of Achievement In Film

Gwyneth Paltrow turned heads in 1993 with her performance as Ginnie in "Flesh and Bone." Since then, she has continued to choose daring and unpredictable film roles, from a turn in 1996's "Emma" to one in Focus Features' critically acclaimed 2003 release "Sylvia." Paltrow received a best actress Oscar for her portrayal of William Shakespeare's muse in 1998's "Shakespeare in Love." She spoke recently from London with Angela Phipps Towle for The Hollywood Reporter about being discovered by Harvey Weinstein, changing her perspective following the 2002 death of her father and fighting morning sickness on the set of Miramax's upcoming drama "Proof."



The Hollywood Reporter: What drew you to acting in the first place?

Gwyneth Paltrow: I always remember wanting to do it, I think because I was around my mother. I would watch her rehearse plays and dress up; it just looked enchanting and magical.



THR: What type of acting schooling did you have?

Paltrow: None. I started as soon my parents (director Bruce Paltrow and actress Blythe Danner) said I could — which was not before I turned 18. They didn't want me to be an actor; they worried that it was such a difficult way to make a living and that it could be so heartbreaking. My mother wanted me to be an anthropologist or an art historian — one of the areas I was interested in in school — but I just knew acting was what I was born to do, or at least born to try to do. It was so deeply in me.



THR: What was your first big break?

Paltrow: My first real break came when I was doing a play in Williamstown, (Mass.), and I went to New York City to audition for this movie called "Flesh and Bone." I went through a bunch of auditions, and I ended up getting the part. When that film came out, the reception to my performance was amazing. That movie is how my relationship with Harvey Weinstein started because he said, "I saw you in this movie, and I want to put you in movies."



THR: How did that relationship develop?

Paltrow: He sent me a bunch of stuff, and then I read "Emma," and I begged him to let me do it. Then, when "Emma" came out, that was another really big turning point for me.

THR: How did you convince Weinstein to give you that part?

Paltrow: He said, "I'll give it to you, but you have to do another movie in return." With him, it's always quid pro quo.



THR: How did your career change after "Emma"?

Paltrow: After "Emma," I started