Gwyneth Paltrow Says Turning 50 Was 'Liberation': 'I Used to Care So Much What People Thought of Me'

Mar. 15, 2025

Gwyneth Paltrow.Photo: Courtesy Kyle Espeleta

Gwyneth Paltrowhas been 50 for less than a month, but she’s already loving this new decade.

“When I was turning 40 I was a wreck,” said the mom toApple, 18, and Moses, 16, with ex-husbandChris Martin. “I was really having a bit of a mid-life crisis around it. I also acknowledge I was in the midst of a big transition. I knew I wanted to leave a marriage [she split from Martin in 2016] and I knew I wanted to move back to the United States, so there was a whole lot going on with me.”

Gwyneth Paltrow.Courtesy Kyle Espeleta

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Continued Paltrow: “I think that transition is particularly hard for a woman because of what society tells us about turning 40 and that in some way when we lose reproductive viability that we’re no longer desirable or important or visible. But I really didn’t have any [anxiety] turning 50. I felt like this amazing liberation started to come.”

The goop founder, who has been married to producerBrad Falchuksince 2018, also reflected on the beauty of a second marriage.

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“I was lucky enough to meet Brad at a time when our values really lined up; what we wanted really lined up and our interests really lined up and we work really hard to maintain it,” Paltrow said. “I was not able to make my first marriage work, and I took it as a huge failure. And it’s still hard. I have disappointed kids and it’s never going to be the same as if I stayed together with their dad. [But] knowing how painful it was to get a divorce the first time, I’m vigilant about staying aligned and not letting resentments build up.”

When it comes to a potential return to acting, the Oscar winner isn’t as definitive.

“Do I have any plans to go back into acting? Not really,” said Paltrow, whose last starring role was in the 2020 seriesThe Politician. “I don’t long for it, I don’t miss it. But things can rekindle at different times in your life. I’ve lived long enough to know that you can never make assumptions about who you’re going to be. So never say never!”

source: people.com