The actor Gwyneth Paltrow could work with “basically anywhere and be in heaven”
Although her acting choices and business ventures have been polarising, Gwyneth Paltrow could never be accused of being dishonest, especially given how often she has expressed sincere regrets or slammed her own performances, never attempting to sand off the edges of her own career.
As the daughter of the acclaimed director Bruce Paltrow and the Emmy-winning actress Blythe Danner, Paltrow certainly entered the film industry with some advantages; nonetheless, she also showed a willingness early on to make risky films with up-and-coming directors, many of which would go on to be considered contemporary classics. A lot of actors can now say that they’ve worked with Paul Thomas Anderson, David Fincher, and Alfonso Cuarón, but she collaborated with these acclaimed filmmakers when they were still relatively unknown.
Interestingly, Paltrow’s career has often intersected with that of Jude Law, and after starring together in the acclaimed adaptation of The Talented Mr Ripley, they would reappear in the ambitious steampunk adventure film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, and years later, in Steven Soderbergh’s pandemic thriller Contagion, even if they didn’t share any scenes with one another.
Law and Paltrow are two in-demand stars who work frequently, so it’s not entirely surprising that they would be in each other’s company on more than one occasion, wherein the praise that she has for her co-star suggests that their consistent collaborations may not be a coincidence. In an interview with The Oklahoman, she said that “you could work with Jude Law basically anywhere and be in heaven”.
Her compliments are particularly powerful when considering the diversity of locations she and Law have acted together. While filming Ripley meant that they got to tour one of the most luxurious destination places in all of Europe, shooting the CGI-heavy world of Sky Captain had them primarily appearing on soundstages with bluescreens.
“We had the experience of working together in the Italian Riviera with yachts and pasta and the high life,” Paltrow said of her time with Law on the former before transitioning to talk about the latter, saying, “We’re in a totally blue room outside of London in the winter, but luckily, he’s so charismatic and he’s such a good actor that it doesn’t matter”.
While good acting means ‘faking it to make it’ in many cases, the fact that Paltrow and Law seemed to have a genuine affection for one another certainly made their onscreen chemistry even stronger, such that in Ripley, the romantic connection that their characters share makes the shocking demise of Law’s Dickie Greenleaf even more tragic and upsetting.
Sky Captain is a slightly more divisive feature that was disparaged by some as a failed experiment and praised by others as a groundbreaking work of genius. There’s no doubt that the ambitious homage to classic World War II films was not lacking in vision, and for better or worse, Law and Paltrow certainly committed to the over-the-top tone.
Whether the duo will get the chance to work together again is unclear, as the latter has done significantly less work in recent years; however, there’s always the chance that their paths could intersect thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which saw Law last appear in Captain Marvel as the villainous Yon-Rogg, and Paltrow has been a mainstay in the franchise with her role as Pepper Potts. Should one of the upcoming Avengers films truly unite every character to ever appear in the MCU, the two might meet in front of green screens once more.
