Gwyneth Paltrow & Ethan Hawke Reunite 27 Years After 'Great Expectations' | Vanity Fair

You know, I have one selfish question I have to ask about this movie. You kiss Timmy Chalamet in Central Park. Yes. Did you shoot it in Central Park? Yes. Did you kiss him in the same place he kissed me? No. Honey, never. I think it's the same damn location. I think it is. I never would have done that. I would never have desecrated our make-out spot like that. I'm wearing white and I'm in black. I got it going on. It's perfect. I just did an interview where somebody asked me about the greatest kisses in screen history. And I said, you know what? I say that goes to us. Well, unfortunately, to talk about when Gwyneth and I first met, I'm embarrassed to be old enough to have to say that it's actually hard. And I remember that I met you through Robert Sean Leonard, who was my co-star in Dead Poets Association. Yes. And you guys were friends. We were dating, right? I didn't want to say it. That's okay. Ethan was very famous, you know, from Dead Poets Society. So we were all like a little intimidated. Like he had made it, you know? I thought I'd made it too. I acted like it. You know, we grew up in this time in New York City in the early 90s that was so fun and specific. And there was like a whole big bunch of us. And we all just kind of fell in with each other. And it was all the kids. It's the thing that I'm—for young people right now, the thing that I most would like to give them is community. There was about a six-month period where I would run into you at six or seven different places. At somebody's house, at a party, at a play opening, at the Corner Bistro, or this other bar. It was so much fun. Oh, my God. There were no phones. I mean, all these ridiculous— That's the first time we made out, remember? At Truth or Dare in my apartment on Prince Street? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What a highlight. It was. I was very dis—I didn't want that to happen, that stupid game. I had different plans for that moment. You're drooling. So, FinVal in New York. That's right. So, Ethan was already cast. He was the star. And I remember meeting with Alfonso and very excited. And then there was a little blip where someone at the studio thought I wasn't pretty enough to do it, remember? That's the kind of ---- that happens all the time. Yeah. And then I think he was convinced otherwise, and then I finally got the part. But it was cool because we were already friends. Yeah. And that was—it was strange for both of us, to be honest. And I'm kind of proud of us. We really believed in Alfonso. He was a lunatic. Is a lunatic. I'll say that on record. A wonderful lunatic. But we did recognize a major talent. I remember when I went to do my costume fitting for the movie, and I was like, wow, everything is green. And Giuliano, the costume director, would say, oh, right, he always leaves it to me to tell everybody everything you're going to wear is green in the entire movie. I know. Even to the point where I was like, I think my character smokes Marlboros. And he was like, no, he doesn't. What do you mean? He smokes menthols. I'm like, I don't like menthols. He's like, no, forget that. He's like, no, I can't have a red package. It's got to be a green package. Do you remember Alfonso pitching you to love scene? Oh, my God. He's like, and then he's going to go down on you. And I was like, oh, my God. My father's going to have a heart attack. He's going to go down on you. 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 on your face as you reach ecstasy. And when you reach ecstasy, the lights will explode like to the sun. And I remember looking at Gwyneth. Gwyneth is like, Alfonso, I'm never going to do that. But you know, I had, in my early career, I was really self-conscious about my dad and grandfather seeing this kind of stuff. Like, it really bothered me. Now, I wouldn't care. I think that you had, in regards to that scene, you had an awareness of how the business worked and the ways in which those kind of images could be manipulated and what it meant to your dad. Yeah. And you were amazing the way you handled that, which was that you weren't petulant. You were just saying like, look, I'm not going to do this. Maybe I was too prudish in the moment. I don't think you are. I was definitely worried about it. But you know, Ethan was always so interesting because you really never sold out. Like, a lot of us did for whatever reason. You know, I mean, it's sort of an ugly word. But, like, I always admired so much how you never did that. And, you know, you're so ruled by your artistic integrity and you were brave in your choices. And as a writer, as a director, like, he never compromised. Do you regret turning down some of those, like, big movies that you turned down? He turned down a lot of really big movies. There are days in my past that I regretted it. I thought those offers would always be there. And there's been many years where they were not. Where I was like, damn it, I didn't know that that door closed. Right, right. You know, and there were some hard days in there. And then I found out that they weren't closed. Yeah. They weren't closed. You just keep putting one foot in front of the other. You know, you find a way. Yeah. I don't regret, I mean, I guess there are a couple of movies that I did that I'm not particularly proud of. Yeah. Definitely some things that I don't feel like, oh, that was just great. But when you look back, even at some, like, great, amazing careers of, you know, stars from the 40s and 50s, like, I was looking at this the other day, and some of them have been in, like, three, like, classic, amazing, and that's enough. And I feel like I was in at least three, maybe four, maybe five, you know, where it's, like, these movies that were kind of indelible somehow. It's so hard to make one. Yeah. Great movie. Yeah. If that happens, you start to be really grateful for that. And, yeah, you chase it again. I thought you had a very unique challenge in your life. When we were young, your relaxation and your depth and your intelligence were available to you at a very young age. It has a lot to do with who you are, and it has a lot to do with an education that I think that your mother and father gave you, non-verbally, perhaps. That's kind of the, I think, the really underrated benefit of being a NEPO baby, if you will, which I am, you know, in a certain respect. And, you know, that term is quite ugly. But at the same time, it's like you're learning these lessons from your parents who are approaching a career with so much integrity and seriousness and such an incredible work ethic. People think it's about doors being opened for them. That doesn't matter. Doors get opened and closed for people, and they either blow it or they don't. But everybody has a deck, given a hand of cards, how do you play it, you know? And that's up to you, and that's very difficult to do because there's a lot of disadvantages that come with being Blyde Danner's daughter, you know, and you have to handle those well. And the thing about celebrity that people don't really understand is how isolating it is. And it's a kind of punishment. And you're getting lots of things that people imagine that they want, and that is nice, but you're getting them behind a glass wall. What I felt so excited about seeing Marty Supreme in regards to our characters, I think both of our characters are people who are on the back nine of their celebrity. We write together for a quarter of a century, and the first show he writes with someone else is gonna be the biggest hit he ever had. Am I bitter? Yes. There's a line that Linklater uses about our movie, which he wanted to be the tagline on the poster, which is, um, forgotten but not gone. You know? Which is when you're still in the room and you still think you're fabulous, but everybody else has moved on. Yeah, and I think my character in the film, she walked away, you know, but her fame is what makes this young kid interested in her. You know, it's not her. You know, it's, it's fame. I bet you can't name one film I've done. Well, we should. Because I stopped acting before you were born. Really? That's really interesting. You know, I have one selfish question I have to ask about this movie, which is that you kiss Timmy Chalamet in Central Park. Yes. Did you shoot it in Central Park? Yes. Did you kiss him in the same place he kissed me? No. Honey, never. I think it's the same damn location. I think it is. I never would have done that. I would never would have desecrated our make-out spot like that. To change the subject, this director is so talented. He is. And I have to admit, when the movie started, like I'm watching ten minutes of it, and it feels good to be in the hands of somebody who knows how to cut a movie. Yeah. How do you live? Well, I live with the confidence that if I believe in myself, the money will follow. And what do you plan to do if this whole dream of yours doesn't work out? That doesn't even enter my consciousness. If there was a biopic about me, I, I don't know, I think I sort of exist in these tropes, you know, in the culture in a lot of ways. Like, it would probably get a lot of things wrong. Like, I think very few people understand who I am unless they really know me and have known me for a long time and have, you know, known my insane sense of humor and have seen me, you know, in all kinds of scenarios. I feel like so much gets projected on me. I also think the idea that a biopic, the biopic would say so much more about the people who made it Yes. than it would about me. So brilliant. They would be using me to some end that they found. I feel like when I've done some, like, if Larry Hart were to see this movie, I would think he would say, wow, I just learned a lot about Richard Linklater. Right. You know, I don't think he learned a damn thing about himself. Right, right. That's so true. Do you still eat Taco Bell? All right, that's really funny. My idea when Gwyneth and I met of a special night. Like, I got a part in a Broadway play. We're going to Taco Bell. I remember when I finished The Hot Estate, my first novel, I was like, well, what'd you do when you finished? I was like, I went to Taco Bell. It's a sickness. I think it's remarkable how we haven't changed. And I think that they're, like I was just saying to you, that I'm proud of that. Yeah. We were two extremely idealistic young people who had a great vision for what we wanted to do and how we wanted to contribute. And you were never ordinary. You've always been you. I think we are fundamentally very much the same people. I think, you know, we have had these lives that have taken all kinds of twists and turns, but I think we've both remained true to ourselves and who we are.