Gwyneth Paltrow recently celebrated a milestone birthday – turning 50. While the Oscar winner happily retired from acting, she’s grown her life outside Hollywood in the last decade or so. Of course, she developed her Goop empire over the last decade. While her forties were rewarding in many ways, turning 50 found her in a place in her life. The Iron Man star got candid about how turning 50 has been liberating for her.
The Shakespeare in Love actress was giddy about entering her fifties as she spoke on a panel at the Goop Immersive event in Santa Monica. According to People, Paltrow was already looking forward to the next decade despite only turning 50 in September. While speaking on the panel, the retired actress called hitting the half-century mark “fantastic.” She explained the difference she felt going from her fifties to her forties.
It's fantastic. I feel really inspired by turning 50. I used to care so much what people thought of me. [Now] I don't care. It's so nice. What I think it really means to not be caught up in what other people think is it means that you're close to yourself.
It appeared entering a new decade freed Paltrow from any doubts or fears she experienced in the first half of her life. Turning the big 5-0 sounds like the life even her fans would dream of. Letting go of others’ opinions or thoughts allowed her to embrace her true self.
The former MCU star seemed to embrace this new season of life with open arms. The same couldn’t be said for Paltrow when she was entering her 40s. She spoke about the identity crisis she faced as her life was going through multiple personal changes at the time.
When I was turning 40, I was a wreck. I was really having a bit of a mid-life crisis around it. I also acknowledge I was in the midst of a big transition. I knew I wanted to leave a marriage [she split from Martin in 2016] and I knew I wanted to move back to the United States, so there was a whole lot going on with me. I think that transition is particularly hard for a woman because of what society tells us about turning 40 and that in some way when we lose reproductive viability that we're no longer desirable or important or visible. But I really didn't have any [anxiety] turning 50. I felt like this amazing liberation started to come.
Facing all those life changes at once would make anyone question their choices in life. Turning 40 is seen as a turning point for someone, especially an actress in Hollywood. She was at a crossroads in her acting career while consciously uncoupling from Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin and feeling homesick. That’s a lot to take on at one time. Former co-star Robert Downey Jr. saw Paltrow’s rough transition while shooting the first Iron Man film. He recalled her struggle to get Goop off the ground.
But her forties did end on a better note as she met and married TV producer Brad Falchuk. She celebrated her daughter Apple Martin turning 18. But there was a small hiccup for Paltrow as Goop experienced a hard 2021 like many businesses after the brand’s expansion didn’t go so well. She also addressed the company’s claim being labeled pseudoscience. Other than that, she seemed to be in a better place as the retired actress left her forties.
While Gwyneth Paltrow may never appear in another movie or TV show again, you can watch her last movie role to date – Pepper Potts in Avengers: Endgame – by getting a Disney+ subscription. Don’t forget to check out what upcoming movies are dropping once you finish watching the Marvel movie.
