Gwyneth Paltrow is one of several covers for Elle Magazine’s Women In Hollywood issue. Of course she’s mostly promoting her work in her husband’s show, The Politician. But most of this (smaller) interview is actually about Goop, because that’s her main deal now. Sometimes I am sort of flabbergasted that this tiny vanity project she started in London out of boredom and elitism has turned into such a massively profitable pseudoscience emporium. You can read the full Elle piece here (the photos are actually quite nice too). Some highlights:

Goop may be full of bad science, but it’s been a huge financial success. As of 2018, it was worth $250 million, and Paltrow suggests it’s subsequently expanded beyond that. “That’s an old number,” she says. Is it higher or lower? “Of course it’s higher. Thank goodness. Oh my God.”

All of the jokes about how she doesn’t know what Marvel films she’s in. “I never read stuff. But it is confusing because there are so many Marvel movies, and to be honest, I haven’t seen very many of them. It’s really stupid and I’m sorry, but I’m a 47-year-old mother.”

Her character in The Politician seems like a parody of her actual life: “The way [my character is] as a mother is most closely based on me. He was also borrowing from other aspects of my life.” One plot point, for example, involves wealthy parents paying for their children to get into the Ivy League (oddly enough, it was written before the college admissions scandal emerged this past March). “I’m familiar with that world,” she explains.

She was never ambitious when it came to her acting career: “In the ’90s, when I was coming up, it was a very male-dominated field. You used to hear, ‘That actress is so ambitious,’ like it was a dirty word.” But now, with Goop, “my ambition has been unleashed,” she admits.

Brad Falchuk on how everyone wants to see Gwyneth act more: “The reaction of most people in our lives who have seen the show is, ‘Screw you for not doing this more.”

[From Elle]

The “Gwyneth should act more” thing has been going around, notably in a think-piece column in the New York Times several weeks ago. I don’t know how I really feel about that – one one side, I enjoy ‘90s revival and Gwyneth is Peak ‘90s. On the other side, I think calling her one of the best actresses of her generation is a bit much. Gwyneth was and is fun for gossip. Gwyneth has been a major celebrity for 25 years. Gwyneth is a better actress than most people. But I feel like she’s happier doing her Goop sh-t.

As for the “I’m a 47-year-old mother” defense for why she doesn’t know which Marvel movies she’s in… eh, I kind of understand. What I don’t understand is how she can blank out on her COWORKER Sebastian Stan every time they meet!

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red, cover courtesy of Elle.