by Paul Fischer
by
Paul Fischer
Gwyneth Paltrow admits to having
a sense of humor. Not only about herself, but life in 
general.
Still a fetching 29, despite an apparent longevity, the Oscar-winning Shakespeare
in Love star, rediscovered her own irreverence after having agreed to star
as an obese young woman in the new Farrelly Brothers comedy Shallow
Hal. "I laugh really hard at jokes," Paltrow smilingly explains.
"[The Farrelly Brothers] say and do incredibly irreverent things. I mean,
they just really are funny - I mean really funny. Out there, but funny."
What is particularly unique about Paltrow's latest role in Shallow
Hal, is that she takes a step outside of an image that has been perpetuated
by herself and the media, since launching into movie stardom in the mid-nineties.
She plays an obese young woman whose inner beauty is what the central character
of 'shallow' Hal sees. What others see is Paltrow in a fat suit. To prepare for
that physically challenging facet of her character, Paltrow recalls watching people
who were overweight and practicing."My stand-in Ivy was also great because
she let me ask her questions and I watched how she moved, as well as studied her
kind of attitude." But, more importantly, dressing up in the all-too-realistic
fat suit, only made the actress aware of how perceptions changed, as she transformed
herself into her overweight counterpart. "It was very different. You know,
when I was on set, I felt no kind of sexual energy from men, you know. Because
normally, I would still have all of these tiny little clothes on the whole time,
and then to come on set the other way with the suit on and felt almost lonely."
Paltrow recalls practicing. walking around with the suit on "just so that
I would have a sense of it and what it felt like". Looking at herself, in
the mirror, as the obese Rosemary filled her with varied emotions, she adds. "It
was very strange the first time I put it on; I laughed, I cried and it was very
intense." Paltrow recalls "going down 
in
the lobby of the hotel where I tried it on, and people wouldn't even look at me;
they wouldn't even make eye contact with me at all. It was really awful."
The reality of that character merely enhanced the actress's own insecurities. After all, she is constantly facing real-life media criticism of her own physicality. There are things that I feel insecure about, and people pick me about, and say 'Oh, she's gaining weight', and this and that, and press, or whatever. Now apparently I'm fat according to the New York Post.," so Paltrow understands what it feels like not to like aspects of yourself, she insists. "There have been times that I have felt really good about the way I look, and times where I feel really terrible about the way I look. So, I have the seed of that feeling."
Paltrow is unconcerned that certain sectors of society will be offended by Shallow Hal, insisting that it is not pro-thin. "I can understand sort of taking offense at a concept or in fear that maybe it will be offensive. But I don't think it's offensive at all. I think the message is very pro-overweight people, and very pro-inner beauty."
Shallow
Hal has been criticized for adopting the perennial thin-is-beautiful stance,
but Paltrow was drawn to the "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder"
or "beauty is skin deep" themes of the movie, and relates in some ways,
to her character's almost tragic predicament in this film. "I really like
that part in the movie where [real-life motivational speaker] Tony Robbins
says that we're all hypnotized to see beauty in this one specific way, and it's
true. I don't know who decided that skinny was more appealing than not skinny
- it just seems arbitrary. If we were living in ancient Rome or Greece, I would
be considered sickly and unattractive, and it's just like the times dictate that
thin is better for some strange reason, which I think is foolish." Yet Paltrow
also agrees that the industry in which she finds herself has probably reinforced
some of those stereotypes. "Absolutely, and so what I love about this movie
is that Jack [Black], isn't technically your basic leading man. I mean, he doesn't
look like Tom Cruise, and yet he's the star of the movie."
As shallowness goes, Paltrow talks half-jokingly about the superficiality of the male species, something which she further identifies with. "To be honest, I think that most men are shallow, and most men tend to be, which I think it's a Darwinian thing, but we won't get all into that." But she does insist that "men assume and think that if they produce offspring from all of these attractive people, their offspring will be attractive therefore insuring the propagation of their DNA, and that's the whole point.."
Paltrow has been in the top of her career since scoring roles
in 1995's Seven, Jefferson in Paris and Moonlight and Valentino.
Her star continued to rise in the diverse likes of Emma, Great Expectations
and her critically lauded work in Sliding Doors. She won an Oscar for
1998's Shakespeare in Love, and remains one of the most recognizable faces
in 
Hollywood.
But in the years that I've spoken to Gwyneth, one thing remains constant: Her
refusal to play the part of celebrity. "I have a very highly developed sense
of denial, and I'm very good at it. So I never recognize the fact that I'm famous
or take it to account unless I have to. But I really don't believe it, I don't
read anything about myself, and I try to keep it completely separate." Yet
Paltrow, who after all was once the bride-to-be of one Brad Pitt, denies her own
shallowness. "I wanted to fall in love with someone who wasn't attractive
at all by other people's standards, so. I have dated some very attractive men,
but they were really nice people, too. They were really good people."
Professionally, Paltrow thrives on challenging herself. Following the release of Shallow Hal, the actress will be seen in the ensemble dark comedy/drama, The Royal Tenenbaums, costarring Gene Hackman, Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller. "I play Margo Tenenbaum - she's the middle child, she's adopted, she's the only girl, she's a playwright, and she and her siblings all failed in life. They think it is because their father is kind of mean and not present and leaves. So when they grow up, they were kind of incapable of sustaining their lives or livelihoods for one reason or another, so they all end up moving back in with their mother, Angelica Huston, in order to try and heal. It's really good." Paltrow continues to challenge herself. "I get challenged by things, not knowing what they are going to be. I read something and think this will be interesting or challenging or something I haven't done, and it will be something I haven't thought of to do. I'm just very open to whatever comes, and in doing different types of projects. It's better to keep learning and working as I I feel like there's a lot I haven't done yet."
