The youths don’t even understand the extent of Gwyneth Paltrow’s It Girl status in the 1990s. Over the course of about six years, she was basically on an unbroken win streak socially and professionally. Dating Brad Pitt and Ben Affleck back-to-back, plus whatever she had with Viggo Mortensen. All of those films she made in a row – Seven, Emma, Sliding Doors, Great Expectations, Shakespeare in Love and The Talented Mr. Ripley. She acted every bit the arrogant snob and people loved her for it. Well, most people. One of Gwyneth’s costars at the time now says that Gwyneth was quite rude to her during the production of Emma. Ruth Jones, best known from Gavin & Stacey and a million other British productions, told Rob Brydon what it was like having a few scenes with Gwyneth back in the 1990s:
Gavin & Stacey actress Ruth Jones recently recalled the “heartbreaking” interaction she had with Paltrow on the set of Emma, revealing that Paltrow treated her like “nothing.” Speaking on the latest episode of the Brydon & podcast, Jones told host Rob Brydon that she remembers her job on the 1996 film for “several reasons.”
“It was the first film I’d done,” she began. “I had two lines. It was something like I had to open the door. I had to announce Gwyneth Paltrow and say, ‘Miss Woodhouse is here,’ and then I had to say, ‘Goodbye, Miss Woodhouse’ at the exit and let her out.”
That’s when, according to Jones, things got testy between her and the more experienced actress.
“And Gwyneth Paltrow cut one of my lines. She said, ‘Does she really need to say that?’” Jones continued. “For people who are starting out, if you’ve got two lines, and somebody cuts 50 percent of your script, it’s heartbreaking.”
Jones, who’s gone on to star in popular comedy series like Stella and Gavin & Stacey, said that in addition to wanting to cut one of her only lines, Paltrow “didn’t want to talk to me.” She and Paltrow found themselves sharing a moment alone, so Jones tried to make conversation, she explained. “When I had to do the scene letting her out of the house,” she said, “it was just me and Gwyneth behind the door, and so we were just [silent].”
“I tried to make conversation with her,” Jones said, recalling that she asked Paltrow, “‘So do you have any Welsh connections?’ Because obviously [with the name] Gwyneth, I always think of it as a Welsh name, [so I asked] ‘How come you’re called Gwyneth?’”
The star gave Jones a conversation-halting answer. “She said, ‘Oh, my mother had a friend called Gwyneth and she really liked the name, so she called me Gwyneth.’ And she was quite dismissive of me.”
Jones added, “I was nothing [on the production]. I had one line. Well, [I] did have two lines, and now down to one.” Paltrow did not immediately respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment.
Eh, not to defend Gwyneth or anything, but those kinds of lines are cut all the time and it’s nothing personal. Who knows if Gwyneth was even really fighting to have the line cut or if she just mentioned “that’s unnecessary” and the director agreed. Now, from the way Ruth tells the story about the name-conversation, Gwyneth comes across like a snooty movie star, but… you also have to remember how many people wanted a piece of Gwyneth at the time. She probably had her defenses up a lot of the time. As I said, she was the biggest It Girl. She could have been nicer, I’m sure, but I also wonder if this whole thing was awkwardness rather than outright rude? I can’t believe I’m giving Gwyneth the benefit of the doubt here either, but this story doesn’t even come across as “Gwyneth was a terrible B to a peasant!”
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Nick Elgar / Avalon.
- GWYNETH PALTROW AT THE BOATHOUSE, CENTRAL PARK,NYC. FOR THE PREMIERE FOR “EMMA”.,Image: 547345246, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 239 689 1883 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Nick Elgar / Avalon
- BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 23: Gwyneth Paltrow attends Daily Front Row’s 7th annual Fashion Los Angeles Awards on April 23, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.,Image: 771537445, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Gwyneth Paltrow, Credit line: Jeffrey Mayer / Avalon
- BEVERLY HILLS, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – APRIL 23: American actress and businesswoman Gwyneth Paltrow wearing G. Label by goop arrives at The Daily Front Row’s 7th Annual Fashion Los Angeles Awards held at the Crystal Garden at The Beverly Hills Hotel on April 23, 2023 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 771569335, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Gwyneth Paltrow, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon
- BEVERLY HILLS, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – APRIL 23: American actress and businesswoman Gwyneth Paltrow wearing G. Label by goop arrives at The Daily Front Row’s 7th Annual Fashion Los Angeles Awards held at the Crystal Garden at The Beverly Hills Hotel on April 23, 2023 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 771569457, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Gwyneth Paltrow, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon
- London, UK, 04 December 2023. Gwyneth Paltrow attends The Fashion Awards 2023 presented by Pandora in association with the British Fashion Council (BFC) at the Royal Albert Hall, London, UK.,Image: 826791652, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Editorial Use Only, Model Release: no, Credit line: Lee Floyd / Avalon
- Ruth Jones at the Olivier Awards 2024 at the Royal Albert Hall in South Kensington, London, United Kingdom on 14 April 2024.,Image: 864848625, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Cat Morley / Avalon
- Ruth Jones attends the Olivier Awards 2024 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England. UK. Sunday 14th April 2024 -,Image: 864941854, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NORESTRICTIONS, Model Release: no, Pictured: Olivier Awards 2024, Credit line: James Warren / Bang Showbiz / Avalon
- Ruth Jones attends Olivier Awards 2024 with Mastercard at Royal Albert Hall in London.,Image: 864956661, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Ana M. Wiggins / Avalon
Eh…I’m actually Team Gwyneth on this one. I think she may have been a bit standoffish but nothing she said sounded rude. And yes- lines like that get cut and altered in real time on sets all the time. Often because how something reads in a script may play weird or awkward in real life. I mean one COULD make the argument that asking someone “Why are you named….?” Whatever your name is as rude. Like the way she posed the question was a bit rude IMO. “What are you called Gwyneth?” is an odd way to phrase something to a stranger you just met and are working with for the first time.
It does sound too personal to ask someone you’ve never met before why they were given a name so I understand why someone might be standoffish and awkward answering it. She could have given some context as to why she was asking that. Also asking for the line to be cut doesn’t sound unreasonable if it felt weird and unnecessary. I get that Ruth Jones would be annoyed if she only had a couple of lines though
She didn’t ask her “what”! Read the piece again.
I’m sure she led with the do you have any Welsh connections and then explained about Gwyneth being a very Welsh name. Which is a nice conversation opener.
I have a very Irish name and often in conversation with someone with a clearly Irish surname will ask about their Irish routes. It’s such a Celt thing (for the Welsh, Irish and Scots) and a lovely icebreaker, except if you are full of yourself and don’t then engage. How easy and polite to reciprocate and ask about the other person in return.
@Emme – it was a typo. Which happens sometimes. I have a very unique name for Western culture so I am very used to people questioning the origins of my name. Asking someone “WHY” they are called something as opposed “What does your name mean?” read very differently. And depending on how they’re asked may come off as rude. Gwyneth isn’t a Celt – she’s American. So it may have come off as rude to her.
A line being cut is usually decided upon, not by a fellow actor, but by the director, producer or screenwriter. Ol Goopy was out of line
Yeah, it doesn’t really seem like her role. I’d take offense if she went out of the way to cut my lines.
Sounds rude to me…
Hmm…the way she tells the story, it doesn’t seem that Gwyneth was rude to her, without the tone I wouldn’t know. But I was expecting her to say that Gwyneth refused to even talk to her. I’m going to guess that Ruth was intimidated by Gwyneth and read the interaction wrong. This story gives me the same impression as the one Valentine Low told about interviewing Meghan and saying that she looked right through him but when you watch the actual clip she was very pleasant and engaging with him. People bring their own baggage into conversation and see things that aren’t really there.
She was great as the mom in Tess of the d’Urbervilles. I don’t remember her in Emma.
Eh. Some people don’t like small talk, especially at work, re-taking scenes and lines and fielding personal questions from a rando they’re not friends with nor care to get to know better…
THIS. A LOT of actors hate small talk while they’re filming. It takes them out of their character.
Many years ago there was an article written about how GP treated other girls at Spence, quoting a lot of classmates. Anyone remember that article? She came across as a passive aggressive Regina George. So this article doesn’t surprise me.
Not pleasant behavior because she pulled rank. Altering the lines of fellow actors is the job of other people on set, but I imagined some sort of Leah Michelle-style ickiness when I read the headline and this doesn’t meet that level of mean girl ick. I detest the pseudoscience nonsense and snotty behavior she has become known for, but GP really was the it girl during the late 90s. The media was unabashedly sexist during her it girl years. I hate the way so many females from that era get/got treated in the media (but acknowledge some of the ire is fair in her case).
I’m so glad I’m too young to remember when she was a supposed ‘it girl’. Barf
I think this is about perception. She asked Gwyneth an awkward personal question at work. Didn’t sound like the answer was rude. But she does come across as snobby, it could have been her tone of voice or body language that was the problem.
I think gwyn is terrible and try never to be on her side, but I dont see anyhting wrong here? It’s probably just interpretation and not working mindset. I dont think it was ever something personal against her.
This feels a little xtra, is she friends with the dude who took a dump in her airbnb bed?
Gwyneth was in a film with David schwimmer during Friends fame and she said to him during a behind the scenes convo I saw on Entertainment Tonight or something, ‘Ugh-TV actor’ 🙄
That stayed with me.
I fully believe Gwyneth is a rude biatch to any of the “little people” she meets. Why defend her? We all know how exalted she is in her own mind.
I’m not a fan of Gwyneth but this just didn’t sound rude. Rude would have been to ignore Ruth completely. Gwyneth answered Ruth’s question – she’s not Welsh and her mom just liked the name. What more is there to say? Did Ruth expect the star of the movie to just carry on a whole conversation with her during filming? If the movie sucked, Gwyneth would have been blamed. That’s a lot of pressure.
Ruth is an incredible actor. She was a guest star in the scifi series Torchwood. The episode is Adrift. It was a very serious storyline. It was such a heartbreaking. episode; I cries throughout and after the episode.