One of the more surprising casting announcements of the last few months has been Gwyneth Paltrow joining the cast of Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme, starring Timothée Chalamet.
It’s her first non-MCU film role in a decade. And every time she’s been asked about acting she’s been all about Goop and how that’s her priority now, and of course since this is GP, there’s been a tone to it. Like, acting wasn’t interesting to her anymore. As if acting was a trend that she’d moved past and was bored by. But not because it was no longer available to her. I know, trust me, I know how people feel about Gwyneth. And how much they want to believe that she was only saying sh-t like this because nobody was casting her. Trust me, if GP had wanted to act during this last decade, she could have. If she were to return to acting, then, obviously it would have to be a project she could be smug about, lord over people with the quality and prestige and the pop culture appeal of it.
Which brings us to this week and the first sightings of Gwyneth on the Marty Supreme set. They’ve been filming this in New York for weeks. We’ve posted lots of photos of Timmy but we’ve been waiting for GP and, wouldn’t you know, it just so happens that she’s making her debut while shooting a scene that involves him kissing her, rather passionately. Somehow it always f-cking comes up Gwyneth Paltrow.
This is Josh Safdie’s solo feature film debut. Marty Supreme is an A24 film. Timothée Chalamet is the most sought-after actor of his generation, bringing both talent and charisma to his work, and he’s an internet king. And here’s GP being offered a part in which he throws himself at her. Because, please, don’t let the amateurs convince you she auditioned for the role, LOL. As IF. They brought it to her, and eventually we’ll have to hear about how acting wasn’t on her radar for years until Josh Safdie got in touch and told her she would be perfect.
But what makes this even more annoying? Gwyneth exhaustion aside, and it’s definitely there, she’s probably going to be really good. I’ve always enjoyed Gwyneth’s acting. It’s undeniable, no matter how insufferable you might find her to be, how great she is in Shakespeare in Love, The Talented Mr Ripley, and of course, The Royal Tennenbaums. And I’m not alone in thinking this. Five years ago, Wesley Morris wrote in The New York Times that GP is “still among the very last generation of movie actors for whom stardom and skill seem scarily, thrillingly natural”. He added that, “I love the whine in Paltrow’s flirtation, the shock of her rage, how she can go from luminous to lost just like that, how she’s able to summon worry, misery and rue 70 different ways in a single performance.”
It’s a perfectly precise inventory of her abilities. But perhaps his most astute observation about Gwyneth and why she stepped back from acting is this:
“The middle has gone out of the movies. And the middle was where Paltrow lived.”
Sarah has written often about how the film industry has contracted to the point where the mid-budget film, the $50 million or so movie for adults that aren’t big on explosions and are not meant for the entire family is disappearing. And that is, actually, where Gwyneth did her best work. And where some of us miss her best work.
Marty Supreme is exactly this kind of film. So the Gwyneth Paltrow comeback is on. Are you ready?
We're Squawking about this now. (app link here)
