Gwyneth Paltrow is reflecting on experiencing “love at first sight” with Brad Pitt.
“It was crazy,” Paltrow, 50, told Alex Cooper on the Wednesday, May 3, episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast.
The Shakespeare in Love star and the Thelma & Louise actor, 59, met on the set of Se7en in 1994 and got engaged in 1996.
“One night we were on the balcony of this house we were renting in this little town in Argentina. … I wish I remembered exactly what he said, but he proposed, it was fantastic, I was thrilled,” Paltrow said, adding that they had “talked about” taking the next step but she was “surprised” in the moment.
Months later, however, they called off their engagement.
“I had a lot of development to do, looking back in hindsight. In a lot of ways, I didn’t really fully start to come into myself until I was 40 years old. And I had such a pleasing issue. I didn’t really even understand how to listen to my instincts and act from that place for what was right for me. I was always trying to adjudicate what was right for everyone else,” she told Cooper. “When I look back I really was a kid, really more than most 22, 24 years old I meet now. I really had not explored who I was, what was important to me, what my boundaries were.”
Paltrow confessed that she was “totally heartbroken” when the twosome “broke up” and cited their nine-year age difference as one of the causes for the split.
“It was the right thing at that time, but it was really hard,” she explained. “There were a number of things that had happened, he was nine years older than me so he was far more … he knew what he wanted, he was ready to do it and I was kind of all over the place.”
Paltrow continued: “So it was really one of those difficult things, where I felt like, ‘Oh, my God, not only am I not ready, I’m not living up to the standards again.’ It was a familiar refrain I felt about myself.”
The Goop founder concluded that the Babylon star — who went on to have high-profile marriages with ex-wives Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie – is a “great guy,” adding: “He’s wonderful, I really like him a lot.”
Brad
Jean Smart Recalls Costar Brad Pitt Consoling Her About Late Husband
Jean Smart is recalling a memorable moment when Brad Pitt shared his condolences after the death of her husband, Richard Gilliland.
While on the red carpet at the Golden Globes 2023 on Tuesday, the Hacks star and nominee, 71, shared what it was like working with Pitt, 59, and Margot Robbie on the new film Babylon. Smart called both of them “so lovely” and “incredible professionals” who are “so funny and sweet.”
“I do remember the day after the Emmys before last,” she recalled to Variety, “and we were shooting Babylon. And I was sitting in a chair just kind of waiting, and Brad came over, and he had watched the Emmys, so he knelt down next to my chair, and he took my hand and he congratulated me and gave me his condolences about losing my husband. He said, ‘I had no idea you’d been going through that. He was incredibly kind.”
“That’s what makes him Brad Pitt,” she added.
BP Gallery Update
• x012 December 31 – Cabo, Mexico.
• x001 January 05 – Los Angeles, CA.
• x028 Candids (2021).
• x002 Advertisement (Brioni, Miraval).
• x017 Premieres (1989, 1991, 1994, 2022).
• x003 Young Brad (Candids).
AACTA Nominations
Brad is nominated for Best Supporting Actor! Read more for the other Babylon and Plan B nominations.
Brad Pitt celebrates Brian Tyree Henry for EW’s 2022 Entertainers of the Year
The actor writes a tribute to his Bullet Train costar, who is not only “funny as f—,” but is getting Oscar buzz for his performance in Causeway.
In 2016, Brian Tyree Henry got everyone’s attention when he first appeared as the hilarious, perpetually exhausted Alfred “Paper Boi” Miles on Atlanta. Since then, he’s continued to build out an impressive résumé, and this year alone, he rounded out his run on the critically acclaimed FX comedy, stole the show as one-half of a heavily accented, quick-witted brotherhood in Bullet Train — Aaron Taylor-Johnson was the other half — and delivered a devastatingly subtle performance as a man in desperate need of a friend in Causeway, for which he’s (rightfully) receiving Oscar buzz.
To honor Henry as one of EW’s 2022 Entertainers of the Year, Babylon star Brad Pitt — who worked alongside Henry in Bullet Train — pays tribute to his costar.
I was a fan before I ever worked with Brian. I saw him in Atlanta, and I thought, “This guy is hard,” in a good way. He’s the real deal, he’s hard. And then he got cast in If Beale Street Could Talk, for basically what is one extended scene, and I was so moved. I thought, “This guy runs deep.” For me, as an actor, it’s rare that you see someone and get surprised. He’s in this one scene, and he talks about his stint in prison, and it just floored me. The degree of subtlety and difficulty, it’s so finessed. You believe it. You feel this immense pain that the character’s carrying. It’s extraordinary. And then you meet Brian in person, and he’s funny as f—. He’s the kindest, sweetest soul. He’s just infectious to be around.
