Gwyneth Paltrow and Ethan Hawke looked back on their “Great Expectations” days in a new video for Vanity Fair, and the conversation brought up a potential sex scene that Paltrow had turned down at the time. During the conversation, Paltrow said she still remembers it clearly. The interviewer asked the two about a proposed sex scene that never made it into the film, and Paltrow explained exactly why she wanted no part of it at the time.
Gwyneth Paltrow on why she refused to do sex scenes with Ethan Hawke
The movie came out in 1998 and was one of the earliest projects in Gwyneth Paltrow’s career, so she said she felt uncomfortable with the idea of a sex scene with Ethan Hawke from the moment director Alfonso Cuarón pitched it. Hawke brought up the memory first, asking her, “Do you remember Alfonso pitching you the love scene?” Paltrow laughed and admitted that the thought of her family watching it made the decision easy: “I was like, ‘Oh, my God, my father’s going to have a heart attack.’”
Hawke recalled how detailed Cuarón’s idea was, saying the director described the camera moving across her body and ending on her face “as you reach ecstasy.” He added that he looked at Paltrow during that pitch and she immediately responded, “Alfonso, I’m never going to do that.”
Paltrow explained that, back then, she didn’t want her father or grandfather seeing her in scenes like that, admitting, “It really bothered me.” She also added that it isn’t something that would affect her the same way today, as she stated, “Now, I wouldn’t care.”
Hawke said she handled it well and wasn’t difficult about it. He noted that she understood how those images could follow her and what that meant for her family. However, Paltrow admitted she sometimes wonders if she was “too prudish in the moment,” but Hawke disagreed, telling her, “I don’t think you were.”
Paltrow and Hawke’s candid conversation let fans in on a rare look back at a film that shaped both of them.
Originally reported by Ishika Mishra on Reality Tea.
