Gwyneth Paltrow Was ‘Nervous’ to Return to Acting with ‘Marty Supreme’
The Academy Award winner stars alongside Timothée Chalamet for her first role in five years.
by Samantha Bergeson · IndieWireGwyneth Paltrow had to ease herself back into acting for her upcoming role in Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme.”
The Academy Award winner said on Friday’s “Drew Barrymore Show” that she was “a bit nervous” to return to the screen after five years away from Hollywood. Paltrow’s most recent big-screen role was 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame.” Paltrow later appeared in 2020 limited series “The Politician.”
“I’m doing a movie which I haven’t done in a really long time. To be honest, I was a bit nervous,” Paltrow said.
“Marty Supreme” is led by Timothée Chalamet, who plays a ping-pong champion in the A24 film. Set photos of Paltrow and Chalamet’s characters locking lips soon went viral.
“I think it’s weird,” Paltrow said of filming intimate scenes. “It’s like, you’re making out with someone that you’re not in a relationship with. There’s no romance. It’s very mechanical. It’s like choreography but involving tongues.”
Paltrow added of Chalamet specifically with “Marty Supreme,” “He is such a wonderful young man. He’s very polite, very talented. Just so nice to be with. I’m really having a good time with him. I’m glad that I put myself, you know, out of…just sort of back into fear a little bit again.”
Paltrow explained that her decision to return to acting was due to the “grief” of being an empty nester as a parent.
“Honestly, I think it was a few things,” Paltrow said. “My son and stepson both went to college for the first time. They’re both freshmen, and my daughter and stepdaughter have gone already a couple of years ago. So, the nest is empty and I feel like there’s this really grief-filled part of it and then there’s this part of it that’s like, ‘Well, maybe I can explore my own creativity again,’ or something like that.”
Paltrow previously said during a ”Today” show appearance in 2023 that she didn’t “miss” acting at all.
“I think I’m so lucky that I got to do it, and I still, I’m sure I still will, at some point,” Paltrow said. “The team is always trying to get me to do a movie, but I really love what I do. And I love how immediate it is, and how, you know, we’re able to create product out of thin air that we believe in so much. […] I don’t daydream about the movie business at all.”