Gwyneth Paltrow is opening up about the negative attention she sometimes gets as a Hollywood fixture. The Iron Man star told Stephen Sackur, host of the BBC News’ Hard Talk, that being picked as the “Most Hated Celebrity” in 2013 left her feeling slightly bemused.
“First of all I was like, ‘I’m the most hated celebrity?’ ” asked an incredulous Paltrow, before laughing. “More than, like, Chris Brown? What did I do?” Paltrow said, however, that she is not about to change her ways just to keep off a list. “All I can do is be my authentic self,” she said. “But I think there are things about me that make people draw conclusions. For example, there is the perception that I grew up very wealthy and that I was given, you know … That I was sort of raised with a silver spoon in my mouth, which inspires a lot of resentment.” The truth, Paltrow maintained, is that while she had an idyllic upbringing and attended Spence School in Manhattan, her late father Bruce Paltrow told her that she was on her own upon graduation.
“He said, ‘You are completely on your own,’ ” she added. “So he never gave me anything: I never had any supplementation, he never helped me with my rent, I never had a trust fund. So the idea that I am spoiled or that I didn’t work for what I have, that’s just not accurate. But I can see how somebody might have that perception.” Another misconception? That Paltrow is a prima donna about her dining choices. “People tend to think that I eat just seaweed and a bit of air,” she said, nothing that in reality, “I have never had a horrible experience with French fries. French fries are my life!” Since giving birth to daughter Apple, 12, and son Moses, 10, with ex Chris Martin, Paltrow has placed acting on the back burner. These days movie-making is very much secondary to the business of running her lifestyle website Goop, she said.
Despite no longer being a red carpet regular, however, Paltrow remains keenly aware of the feminist issues recently raised by the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, Charlize Theron and Keira Knightley, and described the idea of equal pay in particular as “very important.”
Having started her career in an era of “robust budgets and a lot of female stories,” she recognizes that there are less female stories currently being told. Yet, she also has the experience to know this won’t always be the case. To Paltrow, the key is simply to remain patient. “As women in the culture now we are always trying to push forward and move the needle and reach for equality and demand equality,” she said. “It’s like a super tanker: you know, you can’t turn it a really quick turn. It’s sort of a slow turn. But I think we’re getting there.”
