Gwyneth Paltrow’s Swipe at Reese Witherspoon Sparks Backlash
Gwyneth Paltrow has taken aim at Reese Witherspoon for prioritising cash and clout over creative satisfaction, despite her own history of lucrative roles.
Even the most passionate performers have to keep the lights on, so it’s no surprise that many end up taking on well-paid gigs that don’t exactly push their acting skills. Gwyneth Paltrow’s no exception, yet she’s had a go at a fellow star for supposedly chasing the paycheque. There’s a fair bit of irony in seeing someone with Paltrow’s background—born into a showbiz family, with a famous director dad, an award-winning mum, and Steven Spielberg as her godfather—criticise others for seeking money and status. She never had to fight tooth and nail to get noticed, but even those with a leg-up have to prove themselves eventually.
Paltrow did just that, landing standout parts in films like Flesh and Bone, Seven, Hard Eight, and Emma before nabbing an Oscar for Best Actress in Shakespeare in Love at just 26. She kept the momentum going with The Talented Mr Ripley and The Royal Tenenbaums, building a solid reputation. But by the late 2000s, she’d all but stepped back from acting, shifting her focus to side hustles—most notably Goop, her wellness brand known for its eyebrow-raising products. Over the past couple of decades, she’s mostly popped up in Marvel blockbusters, and even she’s lost track of how many she’s done.
Hollywood’s Double Standards
It’s almost a rite of passage for up-and-coming stars in the industry to try their hand at different genres as they climb the ladder. Paltrow was no different: she worked with respected directors, led a literary adaptation, did a few rom-coms, and even played a real person in a biopic. Yet, for reasons best known to herself, she wasn’t too impressed when another rising star followed a similar path. Reese Witherspoon, who also scored a Best Actress Oscar in her twenties, copped some flak from Paltrow for her film choices.
“Even actresses that you really admire, like Reese Witherspoon, you think, another romantic comedy? You know,”
she told The Guardian, before adding,
“You see her in something like Walk the Line and think, ‘God, you’re so great.’ And then you think, ‘Why is she doing these stupid romantic comedies?’ But, of course, it’s for money and status. I just think, wouldn’t it be great if all of those movies people went to see were about real women?”
Pot, Kettle, and Rom-Coms
That’s a bold call from someone who starred in Shallow Hal—a rom-com she’s since publicly criticised and more or less disowned. Let’s not forget Sliding Doors, Bounce, and View from the Top, none of which are exactly classics. The idea that Witherspoon shouldn’t make romantic comedies after winning an Oscar seems a bit rich coming from Paltrow, who’s done much the same.
What’s more, these comments came before Paltrow signed on for a string of big-budget superhero films, playing Pepper Potts alongside Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark in seven Marvel flicks. As time went on, her criticism of Witherspoon’s choices started to look even more out of touch. At least Witherspoon hasn’t thrown her own rom-coms under the bus, which is more than can be said for some.