Gwyneth Paltrow Almost Didn't Take This Huge Role Because of Her Breakup with Brad Pitt
[MUSIC] We can do a little yoga, if you want to. Yoga? I heard of it. You might want to take those off. [MUSIC] Close your eyes and take a deep breathe and step your right foot back behind you. [UNKNOWN] like this. With Jazz hands? Just no jazz hands. Straight hands and look at your middle finger. This one? [BLANK_AUDIO] Okay now, step back to the front. [MUSIC] [UNKNOWN] Anderson. You wanna do some [UNKNOWN] Anderson? This is hopeless. That was about seven seconds. Is that it? Mm-hm. That's all you got? [MUSIC] What? Know what? What? Being Gwyneth Paltrow's really hard. I know, how do you think I feel? [SOUND] This is actually exactly how be Gwyneth Paltrow. Pinot noir. I knew it was you. Cheers.
Shakespeare in Love is celebrating its 20-year anniversary, which means everyone involved is looking back on the film, Gwyneth Paltrow included. According to People, Paltrow wasn't supposed to star in the film at all. In fact, not only was the starring role of Viola supposed to go to a different actor, but when it eventually went to Paltrow, she turned it down.
"The movie had many iterations. Julia Roberts was going to do it for a long time, and then that version fell apart. It ended up in Miramax, and I was the first person they offered it to," Paltrow explained to Variety. She went on to say that the timing wasn't right for her. Why? Two decades ago, she was famously uncoupling from Brad Pitt (they were engaged in 1996 and parted ways in 1997) and wasn't quite ready to head overseas while she was reeling from the breakup.
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"I was in the middle of a terrible breakup [with Pitt] and the idea of going to England and being far from home just seemed … I didn't even read it," Paltrow said. "I was just like, 'I can't read anything right now. I'm having a really hard time.'"
Thankfully, Paltrow did get around to reading that script a few months later and the rest is Hollywood history. Not only did the role snag her an Academy Award in 1999, it thrust Paltrow into the mainstream. Without this critically acclaimed hit, there'd be no Goop as we know it today — or characters like Pepper Potts, Holly Holliday, and Marge Sherwood. And wouldn't that be a shame?
