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Gwyneth Paltrow says 'intense public scrutiny' and Harvey Weinstein led to semi-retirement

Watch: Gwyneth Paltrow on Weinstein

By Taryn Ryder

Gwyneth Paltrow ties herself more closely to her lifestyle brand Goop than Hollywood these days, and according to the actress, there are several reasons why.

Paltrow called into SiriusXM’s Radio Andy where she talked with Bruce Bozzi about her semi retirement from acting and the role convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein played in that decision.

According to The Politician star, she has come to the realisation that she “doesn’t love acting.”

Gwyneth Paltrow says "really rough" Harvey Weinstein made her realize she "doesn't love acting."
Gwyneth Paltrow says "really rough" Harvey Weinstein made her realize she "doesn't love acting." (Photo: FilmMagic)

“I think that when you hit the bullseye, when you’re 26 years old and you’re a metrics driven person who, frankly, doesn't love acting that much as it turns out… I was kinda like, ‘OK, I don’t,’” she said on SiriusXM’s Quarantined With Bruce.

“It wasn’t like I felt like this isn’t worth doing. I sort of felt like — well now who am I supposed to be? What am I? What am I driving towards?”

Read more: Gwyneth Paltrow says her feelings about Harvey Weinstein are complicated

She added, “This wasn’t conscious at the time, but I started to feel… part of the shine of acting wore off, you know?”

Paltrow was only 26 when she won an Oscar for Best Actress for Shakespeare in Love. Her romantic life captured headlines as she was in high-profile relationships with stars like Brad Pitt and Ben Affleck. The “intense public scrutiny” took a toll, Paltrow explained.

Gwyneth Paltrow (Photo by SGranitz/WireImage)
Gwyneth Paltrow (Photo by SGranitz/WireImage)

“Being a kid who’s, like, living every breakup on every headline, being criticised for everything you do, say and wear, and also… [acting is] so transitory,” she continued. “You’re always all over. It’s hard to plant roots. Like I’m such a homebody, you know, me, I like to be with my old friends and cook and squeeze my kids. I don’t want to be alone in a hotel room in Budapest for six weeks. Like, it’s just not who I am. So if you compound those things with the fact that, you know, to be totally candid, I had a really rough boss for most of my movie career at Miramax. So you take all those things.”

That “tough boss” would be Weinsten.

Film producer Harvey Weinstein and actress Gwyneth Paltrow arrive for the 50th anniversary gala of the NFT at the National Film Theatre on the South Bank in London.   (Photo by Yui Mok - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)
Harvey Weinstein andGwyneth Paltrow arrive for the 50th anniversary gala of the NFT. (Yui Mok - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)

“Yeah. So you’re like, ‘I don't know if this is really my calling,’” Paltrow shared. “So I’m still trying to parse out what came from what, and you know, where, how my life changed course. But I think that stew is a big piece of it.”

Paltrow was the face of Weinstein’s Miramax studio for years, churning out films like Emma, Shakespeare in Love and The Talented Mr. Ripley. She was one of the first major stars to come forward and accuse Weinstein on the record of sexual harassment in 2017. The actress recalled to the New York Times how when she was 22, Weinstein summoned her to a hotel room, tried to massage her and get her to the bedroom. She rejected his advances, but continued to work with him.

Read more: Queen strips Harvey Weinstein of CBE following his sex offence conviction

“He was a bully,” Paltrow told Variety last year. “I never had a problem standing up to him. I wasn’t scared of him. I also felt for a period of time, I was the consumer face of Miramax, and I felt it was my duty to push back against him.”

Paltrow described Weinstein as “a very difficult boss,” noting they had “a fraught relationship. We would get in knock-down, drag-out fights.

“I had one really uncomfortable, weird experience; then he was never inappropriate with me again in that way,” she noted.

In March, Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault.