Gwyneth Paltrow is an Oscar-winning actress and the founder of Goop, who is known for occupying the big screen. Nowadays she's known for taking a step away from acting, although she returned in a big way with Marty Supreme. But she recently reflected on the early days of her career, and explained why she turned down a graphic sex scene opposite Ethan Hawke in Great Expectations. And the pair really had a good laugh about the story.
Long before her tenure as Pepper Potts in the MCU (which is streaming with a Disney+ subscription), Paltrow was a young actress working with a variety of well-known directors. That includes Alfonso Cuarón's Great Expectations, which hit theaters back in 1998. During a chat with Hawke for Vanity Fair, the two reminisced about a sex scene they originally had in the film. Paltrow recalled her initial reaction to the pitch, saying:
I was like, 'Oh, my God, my father’s going to have a heart attack.'
This is a pretty understandable reaction, even for folks who have never acted before. It takes a ton of vulnerability to do love scenes, and this was long before intimacy coordinators became a position on sets. Gwyneth was in her twenties when filming Great Expectations, and has concerns about her director father Bruce Paltrow seeing her simulate sex onscreen.
In the video, Ethan Hawke shared what Cuarón pitched for the scrapped love scene for the book to screen adaptation of Great Expectations. In his words:
The camera is going to go down your belly, and then it's going to go up your breasts, and then it's going to go in your face as you reach ecstasy And then when you reach ecstasy, the light will explode like to the sun!
While the acclaimed Y tu mamá también director had a clear vision and passion for this sequence, Paltrow's reaction was seemingly less than enthusiastic. The star of Boyhood continued the story and went on to say:
I remember looking at Gwyneth, and Gwyneth is like, 'Alfonso...I'm never going to do that.'
There were still some steamy scenes in this movie, but Paltrow was able to advocate for herself at a young age about things she was not comfortable doing on camera. You've got to admire her strong sense of self, as many young performers hoping to establish themselves in Hollywood might not be so brave.
Later in that same chat, Gwyneth Paltrow further explained why she was so worried about this cut sex scene when filming Great Expectations. As she put it:
In my early career, I was really self-conscious about my dad and grandfather seeing this kind of stuff. Like it really bothered me. Now, I wouldn’t care.
This makes a great deal of sense. Paltrow has seemingly become more confident as she got older, and cared less about what her family might say about love scenes. Indeed, Gwyneth had some sex scened opposite Timothée Chalamet in Marty Supreme, making headlines in the process.
Marty Supreme is in theaters now as part of the 2025 movie release list. As for Great Expectations, it's streaming for free over on Sling TV.
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