Gwyneth: The Biography author Amy Odell wrote a book examining the polarizing allure of Gwyneth Paltrow. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images, Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images for The Red Sea International Film Festival, Arthur Elgort)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.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementGwyneth'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?"Blythe Danner, Bruce Paltrow and Gwyneth Paltrow at the Balthazar in New York City. (Photo: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)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."AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOdell 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 imageGwyneth 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.
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