Love her or hate her, you can't look away from Gwyneth Paltrow.

Yahoo

2 days ago

Author Amy Odell talks to Yahoo about our fascination with the star in her new book.
For more than 30 years, she's occupied a unique space in the public eye, simultaneously adored and despised, revered and ridiculed. She's been an indie darling, an Oscar winner and a box office powerhouse. She also suggested women use a $66 vaginal egg and sold a candle that "smells like my vagina" via her wellness company Goop. Whether she's the subject of praise or criticism, Gwyneth Paltrow has always commanded attention — and for good reason.
That duality of admiration and ire is at the core of what author Amy Odell explores in her new book Gwyneth: The Biography, out now. For Odell, understanding the true Gwyneth was no simple task, and even after three years of research, she tells me the full picture of the star remains elusive. The multihyphenate declined Odell's request for an interview.
Instead, Odell relied on an extensive network of sources to piece together a more complete picture. Throughout her research, she interviewed more than 220 people — those who had worked with Gwyneth on films or at Goop. Even friends and former friends. What she discovered was a more layered understanding of the movie star, one that goes beyond her public image.
Gwyneth's story is well-known. She grew up with a silver spoon, daughter of actress Blythe Danner and TV producer Bruce Paltrow, with Steven Spielberg as her godfather. Her personal life — marked by high-profile relationships and celebrity friends like Brad Pitt, Ben Affleck, and Chris Martin — has always fascinated the public.
Professionally, she's constantly evolving. After the birth of her daughter Apple in 2004, which sparked media mockery, she stepped away from Hollywood to focus on new ventures, becoming a cookbook author and wellness guru.
These transformations have made Gwyneth a magnet for attention, but also contribute to the paradox of her public image. Despite numerous interviews over the years, Odell felt they never captured Gwyneth's full complexity. "She's been profiled countless times, and yet… I felt like the many stories written about her barely scratched the surface of who she really is," Odell tells Yahoo.
Gwyneth's ability to captivate stems from a mix of privilege, fame and constant reinvention. Despite her immense influence, she's never bridged the gap between her world and that of the average person. For Odell, this disconnection is key to understanding Gwyneth. Her upbringing and experiences shaped how she interacts with a world few can relate to.
'She doesn't know an average life'
Gwyneth has never understood what it means to be normal. Bruce always traveled with his kids in first class. According to Odell's sources, he'd joke that his daughter didn't know how to turn right on an airplane, toward coach. When Danner, who didn't like flying with her kids in first class, once flew with Gwyneth, she was confused when they made that right-hand turn. "You mean — we're not flying first class?" Gwyneth asked her mother. 'We're flying no class?'
It's one small example that encapsulates a larger truth about Gwyneth's upbringing: she has never known what it's like to be ordinary. According to Odell, living a "normal" life was something Gwyneth both feared and was fascinated by. "She's lived in such a rarefied world since she was born," Odell says. "She's always been surrounded by wealth, by movie stars, by people with power. She's never had to struggle in the ways that most people have.'
Odell continues, 'When she tries to make comments that suggest she understands the average person's experience, it often comes off as out of touch."
Case in point, Gwyneth told Elle UK in 2009, "I am who I am. I can't pretend to be somebody who makes $25,000 a year." Two years later, she said, "I'd rather smoke crack than eat cheese from a can."
When Gwyneth makes comments like these, 'she's almost trying to get on the level of an average person," Odell says. 'She just can't quite do it because she doesn't know an average life. She never has."
A polarizing public image
Gwyneth has always provoked strong opinions. The first time Odell uses the word "polarizing" to describe her in the book is during Gwyneth's middle school years, when she attended the Spence School, a small all-girls private school in Manhattan. When Gwyneth arrived in seventh grade, her classmates had an immediate reaction: some wanted to hang out with this new, "interesting" person. Others felt threatened, but everyone knew who she was.
If that reputation simmered behind the scenes, it didn't take too long for it to spill over into the public's perception.
In the early '90s, Gwyneth's acting career was taking off, and she became a media darling. The press fawned over her as the "girl next door" with the talent to match. She quickly rose as one of Hollywood's most promising stars after hits like Se7en and Emma.
"The praise she was receiving was just phenomenal. People were admiring her beauty, her acting talent, her poise," Odell says. But the author believes that it shifted after Gwyneth's Oscar win for Shakespeare in Love in 1999.
Gwyneth stood onstage accepting her Academy Award for Best Actress in a pink Ralph Lauren gown, which she accessorized with a 40-carat diamond choker borrowed from Harry Winston. Her parents proudly looked on from the audience. Four days later, the New York Times reported Bruce and Danner had decided to buy their daughter the $160,000 necklace. The article included a quote from Winston official Carol Brodie, who recalled seeing the actress at an Oscars afterparty as she held her gold statue, beaming. After offering her congratulations, Brodie said Gwyneth responded, 'My daddy's buying me the necklace.'
'That was a turning point,' Odell says of the article. This moment marked a shift in how Gwyneth was covered in the press and how the public received her.
Soon after, "people started writing stories about how she was so annoying, and questioning what this pampered girl did to deserve all the success," Odell says. "Suddenly, she was no longer the golden girl of Hollywood. Stories about her privilege began to emerge, especially surrounding her family's wealth and connections."
But Gwyneth has never made any attempt to hide her wealth or privilege — if anything, she's embraced it. For some, this open acknowledgment is maddening.
Love and privilege
Her romances have also been far from average. There's only one person who can say they've dated Pitt, Affleck and Martin. But for Odell, it wasn't just the relationships themselves that intrigued the public; it was the way they highlighted the stark contrast between Gwyneth's world and the lives of the men she dated, especially Pitt.
'Gwyneth's relationships with Brad Pitt and Ben Affleck made her a part of the tabloid culture,' Odell says. 'Brad skyrocketed her into that world. But their backgrounds couldn't have been more different. Gwyneth grew up in a world of wealth, where movie stars and big names were part of her daily life. Brad, on the other hand, came from a small town in Missouri, from a family with a much more modest lifestyle. So when they were together, people saw a clash.'
Her relationship with Pitt, from 1994 to 1997, was a media spectacle that thrust her into a different stratosphere of fame. This, combined with her growing influence in Hollywood, placed her squarely in the eye of a tabloid frenzy. But it also underscored a simmering tension.
"She came from money, and he came from nothing. That was a dynamic that was always going to be difficult to navigate," Odell continues. 'I think the differences in their backgrounds played a major role in the dissolution of their relationship. She was acutely aware of it, and it caused friction. There were little things, like the fact that she would have to explain caviar to him. She was raised eating Beluga, and he had a very different upbringing. Certain things about Brad would bug Gwyneth, like when he was late, she couldn't stand that. She's very punctual."
This division between their worlds became one of the reasons their relationship couldn't last. It wasn't just about material wealth; it was the way these contrasting lifestyles shaped their approach to life, fame and love.
Her influence on wellness culture
If people find Gwyneth someone they can't relate to, then her approach to Goop only deepens that gap.
She has become a defining figure in the wellness industry, thanks largely to her brand, which is rooted in luxury, exclusivity and a promise of self-improvement that requires a level of financial and social capital most people simply don't have.
'Goop really set the standard for a modern wellness company,' Odell says. 'Gwyneth popularized the language of wellness — terms like 'toxins,' 'clean living' and 'clean beauty.' She gave the movement an aesthetic: a beautiful, aspirational lifestyle that people were willing to buy into. And she did something really important: she made wellness a luxury.'
From a $32,000 mattress to $200 vitamins, Goop's offerings have faced criticisms as symbols of unattainable indulgence rather than a genuine effort to promote health. For many, it's a reminder that Gwyneth's life remains vastly different from their own. Since Goop launched in 2008, first as a weekly email and then as a website with e-commerce in 2014, critics have harped on how she allegedly peddled misinformation.
In 2015, medical experts slammed the website for suggesting a too-tight bra may increase the risk of breast cancer. Three years later, the company settled a false advertising lawsuit for $145,000 over essential oils marketed as a depression remedy and jade and quartz eggs said to enhance women's sexual health. According to one source close to Gwyneth, the negative stories about Goop never seemed to bother her.
'I think Goop's legacy will be showing the world just how far people will go to achieve wellness, regardless of what science tells us,' Odell says. 'Goop popularized an entire language and culture of wellness. What's interesting is that, even though Goop has distanced itself from some of its more controversial products, the influence remains. People are still using the Goop model to push wellness trends, and they're doing it in even more extreme ways now.'
Constantly reinventing
Gwyneth's shift from actress to CEO remains one of her most impressive transformations, solidifying her influence beyond entertainment. Her ability to constantly reinvent herself has fueled her enduring relevance, with the latest example being her return to the big screen in December's Marty Supreme.
'Gwyneth has always been incredibly ambitious, but she's downplayed that side of her. What's interesting is that when I asked people about what motivates her, I got a range of answers,' Odell says. 'Some people say she's motivated by the fact that she can do it. Others say she wants to prove herself outside of acting, especially since she never got a college degree.'
Odell speculates whether Gwyneth's return to acting is driven by passion or strategy to boost Goop's visibility, with her sources leaning toward the latter. "That's the question I would have liked to ask her," Odell says, referring to Gwyneth's motivations for the next chapter in her career. Whatever Gwyneth's next move may be, it will be something few can relate to. 'I think that what's really triggering to people about her,' Odell says.
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