You might also remember that she starred in Alfonso Cuarón’s 1998 adaptation of Great Expectations, in which she played Estella opposite Ethan Hawke as Finnegan Bell.
The adaptation of Charles Dickens’s 1861 novel of the same name featured a couple of scenes that one could consider very racy for the times, but apparently, it could’ve been even racier.
During a one-on-one interview with Vanity Fair, Gwyneth and Ethan reunited, and she was asked if she remembered a hot, steamy sex scene that Alfonso had pitched, but Gwyneth shut down. “Do you remember Alfonso pitching you the love scene?” Ethan asked.
“Oh, my God,” Gwyneth replied, explaining that the cut scene involved Ethan “going down” on her, aka Estella receiving oral sex from Finnegan. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God, my father’s going to have a heart attack.
For context, Gwyneth’s father is filmmaker Bruce Paltrow, and her mother is actor Blythe Danner, so her family was well aware of her filmography, given their own proximity to the industry.
Ethan, with no reservations, attempted to recreate how Alfonso had pitched the scene, describing it with extreme detail. “‘The camera is going to go down your belly, and then it’s going to go up your breasts, and then it’s going to go in your face as you reach ecstasy,'” Ethan said. “‘And then when you reach ecstasy, the light will explode like to the sun!'”
“I remember looking at Gwyneth, and Gwyneth is like, ‘Alfonso… I’m never going to do that,'” Ethan said as she covered her face.
The Marty Supreme actor revealed why she actually turned down the scene. “In my early career, I was really self-conscious about my dad and grandfather seeing this kind of stuff,” she said. “Like it really bothered me. Now, I wouldn’t care.”
Ethan praised Gwyneth’s early decision-making and its impact on her career. “I think you had, in regard to that scene, you had an awareness of the way that the business works, and the ways in which those kinds of images could be manipulated and what it meant to your dad. And you were amazing, the way you handled that,” he said. “You weren’t petulant. You were just saying like, ‘Look, I’m not going to do this.'”
Of course, today, Gwyneth has no qualms with these types of scenes. She actually revisited Central Park (the place where Finnegan and Estella kissed) in Marty Surpreme.
You can hear about the Marty Supreme scene and more in the full interview here.
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