Gwyneth Paltrow opens up about the infamous 'conscious uncoupling’, setting up a business and going on 'awful' cleanses, among other revelations
In a recent interview with Net-A-Porter’s digital magazine THE EDIT , actress, entrepreneur and all-round vision of wholesomeness (even if she's mocked for it) Gwyneth Paltrow spoke rather candidly on many topics, but be in no doubt that if you’ve giving her flak about Goop , she’s on to you:
“It’s got a few layers to it. People were fine with me as an actress, but with Goop it was like, ‘Stay in your lane.’ Women in general get a lot of pushback, especially if you’re successful and attractive... I’m not saying I’m attractive. I mean when you’re considered attractive.”
Now that that’s out of the way, the 44-year-old doesn’t have a lot of time for restrictive cleanses either, and if you’re imagining that she’s up at the crack of dawn to workout on her summer hols, the answer’s a big fat no:
“I can’t be on a cleanse all the time…I did one for seven weeks last year and it was awful. At home, I loosen the reins: a glass of wine, maybe a baguette dripping in cheese, some fries. […] On vacation, I eat what I want – and there’s no exercising, either.”
What we’re trying to say is that Gwyneth isn’t quite what you’d imagine considering the caricatured media portrayals of her as a vagina-steaming, brown rice guzzling soccer mom. Sure, Gwyneth’s wellness website Goop has put some wacky ideas out there, but she’s apparently not bothered by backlash, as she reveals on THAT topic of 'conscious uncoupling':
“People are coming around. I know it’s a dorky term, but it’s very worthwhile. I’m always the person who gets s*** at first, but then later people say, ‘Hey, maybe that’s a good idea.’ I don’t mind.”
As it happens, Paltrow seems adept at turning a bad situation into a learning experience rather than all out disaster, as her account of her divorce from Coldplay singer Chris Martin testifies:
“I wanted to turn my divorce into a positive. What if I didn’t blame the other person for anything, and held myself 100% accountable? What if I checked my own s*** at the door and put my children first? And reminded myself about the things about my ex-husband that I love, and fostered the friendship? What I put myself through to get there was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
Not that Gwyneth doesn’t count her blessings, but when life give her lemons, it’s fair to say that she does her best to make margaritas:
“I’ve had an extraordinary life, where things have happened in a huge way – huge success, huge joy, huge pain, huge loss. And the reason I feel happy today is because I’ve milked the f*** out of every opportunity. I haven’t made one mistake that I haven’t used as a stepping stone to get somewhere else. I’m ruthless when it comes to using the hard things.”
Silver linings and clouds come to mind, and she doesn’t let perceived downsides of fame either play on her mind or impact on her family life:
“They passed laws a couple of years ago about [paparazzi] not harassing children, so I take them everywhere with me like a shield – they’re good for something! […] My kids can handle [fame]. They know their lives are extraordinary. And girls today are allowed to be anything; they’re self-possessed, confident, they like themselves. In Apple’s peer group, I don’t see the insecurity I saw at that age.”
Insecurity is something that Paltrow is familiar with herself, and it particularly took hold when she found herself at a career crossroads:
“I was burned out! Doing back-to-back films in my twenties took it out of me [...]. Acting was my identity. Who am I, if I’m not that? There was a weird period when I wasn’t starring in films or running a successful business, so I was kind of nowhere. I thought, what if this just isn’t going to be successful?”
The demand for Goop was, however, undeniably strong, and while she’s recently taken a step back from the site she founded, she’s confident that it has legs:
“I made this tiny database so my friends would stop f****** calling me. […] For Goop to scale up, it needs to not be dependent on my name.”
Time-management on the whole has become more and more of a focus as Gwyneth has gotten older, and with that, her health and fitness regime has similarly evolved. Let’s just say that less is more…
“I used to exercise for two hours a day... an hour of cardio and an hour of weights. But there’s just no time anymore. I’m getting old, my back hurts! It’s depressing. Some days, the gym gives me this rush of energy and I feel amazing, but then my body’s like, ‘f*** you.”
Us too Gwyneth, us too. It has to be said there are still elements of planet Paltrow that we definitely don’t conform to (she doesn’t generally eat breakfast for one thing), but otherwise, her 'no-bull' attitude is something we want a piece of. We can’t all win an Oscar at 26, but we can push to achieve our ambitions and be successful on our own terms. Gwyneth didn’t ‘stay in her lane’ after all...
To read the full interview with Gwyneth Paltrow, read The EDIT and/or download The EDIT’s free app for iPhone, iPad and Android.
Video: ‘Gwyneth Paltrow Shares Her Beauty Secrets And Most Embarrassing Moments
All the pieces modeled by Paltrow in her shoot and mini film online can be purchased straight from the magazine’s pages via the free app, now available on Android as well as iPhone and iPad, and through www.net-a-porter.com.