Gwyneth Paltrow is Harper's Bazaar UK's cover girl for their March "Fashion Meets Music" issue. In the accompanying photoshoot, Gwyneth wears Louis Vuitton, Tom Ford, Dolce & Gabbana, and Gucci. She talks about Country Strong, doing the school run with Beyoncé, singing live at the Country Music Awards, and why she sticks with Goop. Here are highlights:
- On Beyoncé's performance advice for Country Strong: "Beyoncé is the most talented human being on the planet. She has so much mastery over what she does. It’s not even confidence — it’s on a whole other level. It’s mind-blowing. I watched her (perform) a lot to see how she did it, and I was like 'Sh*t! I can’t do that!'"
- On living in the UK: "In England, people are cool. They’re really laid back and calm. Beyoncé did the school run with me once, and everyone was fine. They also have really good anti-paparazzi rules. If you’re driving in a car and they make you feel freaked out, that’s against the law. They can’t put you in a magazine unless they pixellate the kids’ faces. I miss America, but I love living in the UK."
- On her live performance at the Country Music Awards: "Two weeks before I did it, I was dying. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t eat. I was like, 'Why would I say yes to this? What is wrong with me? What kind of maniac would agree to do this?' It was one of those nights I’ll look back on and think, 'Wow, I can’t believe I actually pulled that off.'"
- On how she tackled her Country Strong role: "I had the best time doing it. It’s rare that you read a role that’s so juicy and complicated, and also so sweet and human. Kelly has a good heart. I just loved how real she is.... Alcoholism is such a vicious cycle and Robert (Downey Jr), really helped me understand it. I understand how you can do something bad for you because I smoked forever. I smoked even when my dad had throat cancer. I was like 'I know this is probably going to kill me, but I’m going to smoke it anyway.' But I didn’t understand wrecking other people’s lives, and then kind of just waking up and tying your shoes. So he helped me figure that out."
- On her enthusiasm for food and why she stands by Goop: "Any time you do anything with any degree of sincerity, people make fun of you. That’s totally fine. I don’t care. I don’t read any of it. My thing with Goop has always been, if you don’t like it, then don’t log onto it. There were a couple of times when I thought 'I’m just gonna stop doing it. People are so mean to me. I don’t want to do it.' But then I was like, 'Who cares what some lame person out there says?' I was in Italy once, and this old man came up to me and said, 'I had the best time in Nashville because of Goop.' And that is so worth it to me."
The full feature appears in the March issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK, on sale Thursday Feb. 3.
Photographer credit Alexi Lubomirski. Pictures courtesy of Harper’s Bazaar