Gwyneth Paltrow has opened up about why she declined to film an explicit sex scene opposite Ethan Hawke during the making of Great Expectations, revealing that the decision had little to do with discomfort and everything to do with family.
Gwyneth Paltrow recalls denying sex scenes with Ethan Hawke
The revelation came during a recent reunion conversation between Gwyneth Paltrow and Ethan Hawke for Vanity Fair, where the longtime collaborators revisited their experience working together on Alfonso Cuarón’s 1998 adaptation of Great Expectations.
While reminiscing, Hawke brought up a sensual scene that director Alfonso Cuarón had once proposed but ultimately never filmed. Asking Paltrow if she remembered the moment, Hawke prompted an immediate reaction. “Oh, my God,” she replied.
Gwyneth Paltrow explained that the proposed sequence would have shown her character, Estella, receiving oral s*x from Ethan Hawke’s Finnegan Bell. An idea she quickly shut down. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God, my father’s going to have a heart attack,’” she quipped.
Hawke then reenacted how he remembered Cuarón enthusiastically describing the scene, quoting the director’s vivid vision: “‘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… and then when you reach ecstasy, the light will explode like to the sun!’” According to Hawke, Paltrow’s responded, “Alfonso… I’m never going to do that.”
Paltrow further clarified that her refusal had little to do with fear of filming explicit material. Instead, she said she was deeply self-conscious early in her career about how her family would react. “In my early career, I was really self-conscious about my dad and grandfather seeing this kind of stuff,” she explained. “Like it really bothered me. Now, I wouldn’t care.” Hawke gave Paltrow credit for how she handled it, saying she knew exactly what she was doing and why. “You were amazing, the way you handled that,” he said.
