The late Nineteen Nineties have been an thrilling time in Gwyneth Paltrow’s life.
Not solely was the genetically blessed daughter of actress Blythe Danner delivering on her early promise to change into a film star, she received so far two of essentially the most fascinating younger up-and-coming male actors in Hollywood: Brad Pitt and Ben Affleck.
However a brand new biography of Paltrow, 52, reveals why these made-for-the-red carpet relationships didn’t work out. It seems that the Ozarks-reared Pitt, 61, wasn’t fairly elegant sufficient for the long run Oscar winner, based on the ebook, “Gwyneth: The Biography,” by Amy Odell, which is excerpted in Folks. He was “threatened” by her early success and will have been harm by rumors that she cheated on him, the ebook additionally reveals.
Then got here Affleck, and Paltrow reportedly liked the intercourse, Odell wrote. However the “Good Will Hunting” star was already struggling together with his addictions to alcohol and playing, and he typically appeared extra keen on enjoying video video games than in spending high quality time together with his glamorous younger girlfriend, based on Odell.
The long run Goop life-style entrepreneur, whose father was filmmaker Bruce Paltrow, grew up as present enterprise royalty in Santa Monica and New York Metropolis. Her godfather was Steven Spielberg, and he or she attended a complicated non-public faculty in Manhattan, although she barely managed to graduate as a result of she struggled academically, Odell wrote. She enrolled at UC Santa Barbara however quickly dropped out to behave professionally. She met Pitt in 1994 at an audition for his film, “Legends of the Fall.” Whereas she didn’t get the half, he later urged she play his spouse within the David Fincher movie “Se7en.”
Paltrow fortunately signed on for “Se7en,” partially as a result of she wished so far Pitt, Odell wrote. In a 2023 interview with “Call Her Daddy” podcaster Alex Cooper, Paltrow described her attraction as: “Brad was like the sort of major chemistry, love of your life, kind (of hookup).”
As the 2 dated for the subsequent three years, they grew to become referred to as the attractive, blonde couple who dazzled at film premieres and different Hollywood occasions. Paltrow informed Cooper that the “romantic” Pitt proposed marriage whereas they have been staying in Argentina, the place he was making a film. However she informed Cooper she known as off the engagement, saying that at age 24 she was too younger to get married.
Odell’s ebook provides one other layer to the explanations Paltrow didn’t wish to marry Pitt. Whereas filming “Emma,” the hit 1996 adaptation of the Jane Austen novel, Paltrow expressed doubts to a crew member about whether or not Pitt was proper for her, whereas admitting she had a crush on Hugh Grant.
“Brad and I had very different upbringings,” she as soon as informed an interviewer, based on Odell. “So when we go to restaurants and order caviar, I have to say to Brad, ‘This is beluga and this is osetra.’”
After “Emma” was launched and Paltrow received rave opinions, she visited her good buddy, make-up artist Kevyn Aucoin and cried about Pitt, Odell wrote. She stated he wished to be along with her however appeared to really feel threatened by her success and all the eye she obtained. Based on Odell, Aucoin bluntly informed Paltrow: “You really need to end this.”
Odell additionally spoke with two individuals who recounted a rumor that Paltrow and Pitt broke up after she cheated on “The Fight Club” star with Scottish actor John Hannah, her co-star within the 1998 movie, “Sliding Doors.” Paltrow and Pitt by no means commented publicly on the breakup however she graciously informed Howard Stern in 2015 that Pitt “was too good for me.”
Paltrow started relationship Affleck in 1997, the 12 months that “Good Will Hunting” was launched and he and his buddy, Matt Damon, received acclaim and an Academy Award for co-authoring the screenplay. Paltrow was drawn to Affleck’s mind, Odell stated, and the labored collectively on “Shakespeare in Love,” the 1998 movie that marked the apex of her profession.
Whereas Paltrow and Affleck have been relationship, she spoke overtly about how a lot she loved their intercourse life and as soon as informed Aucoin that she liked it when Affleck engaged in a sure intercourse act, based on Odell. “Ben was, like, technically excellent,” Paltrow additionally informed Cooper.
However quickly after “Shakespeare in Love” opened to “ravishing reviews” in December 1998, Paltrow and Affleck broke up.
“Their physical chemistry couldn’t overcome his self-destructive impulses, which may have even included cheating on her,” Odell wrote. Paltrow reportedly stated concerning the breakup: “I love men, even though they’re lying, cheating scumbags.”
After Paltrow received the perfect actress Oscar in 1999 — carrying an sadly ill-fitting however nonetheless well-known, Grace Kelly-esque pink ballgown, designed by Ralph Lauren — she determined to give attention to her well being, Odell wrote. She additionally reconciled with Affleck, however his dependancy points resurfaced whereas she took her wholesome dwelling practices to a brand new degree: practising Ashtanga yoga six instances every week, meditating day by day, and watching her weight loss plan. Paltrow and Affleck broke up for good in October 2000.
Paltrow finally met and married Coldplay frontman Chris Martin in 2003 and had two kids, whereas Pitt married Jennifer Aniston in 2000, then left her for Angelina Jolie in 2005. Each Paltrow and Pitt’s marriages to Martin and Jolie, respectively, resulted in 2016. Paltrow is now married to producer Brad Falchuk.
For his half, Affleck was concerned in a high-profile relationship with Jennifer Lopez, which spectacularly resulted in 2004. He was married to Jennifer Garner from 2005 to 2018, with whom he had three kids, then reunited with Lopez for an additional high-flying, two-year marriage that ended earlier this 12 months.
Affleck’s struggles with alcohol dependancy continued till just lately and have been extensively coated by the media. The identical goes for Pitt, and each males have opened up in interviews about getting sober in recent times by the assistance of 12-step packages.
