Gwyneth Paltrow - American actress, Business Woman and Activist.

Gwyneth Paltrow - American actress, Business Woman and Activist.

Gwyneth Paltrow is an American actress, singer, entrepreneur and activist.

Revealed by the film "Seven" in 1995, her professional consecration came in 1999 with the lead role in "Shakespeare In Love", which earned her numerous awards, including the Oscar for Best Actress and the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy.

In 2008, she joined the Marvel universe, with the first film of the Blockbuster "Iron Man", in the role of Pepper Potts. In 2010, we discover her singing talents in the musical series "Glee", a performance that earned her the Emmy Awards for Best Guest Actress in a TV comedy series in 2011.

 

She was introduced to the world of film and television at an early age, with her father Bruce Paltrow being a director and producer, and her mother, the actress Blythe Danner. Her cousin, Katherine Moennig, is also an actress, her brother, Jake Paltrow, is a stage director, and her godfather is none other than the filmaker Steven Spielberg.

At the age of 11, Paltrow followed her parents to a film set in Massachusetts and received her first artistic lessons. However, they were opposed to her pursuing an acting career.

She moved to Los Angeles to study at the Spence School. In 1987, she went to Spain for a year as an exchange student to learn Spanish, then returned to the United States to study anthropology at the University of California.

 

In 2005, Paltrow became the face of Estée Lauder's Pleasures fragrance. The brand donated $500,000 from the sales of the "Pleasures Gwyneth Paltrow" collection to breast cancer research. In 2006, she became the face of Bean Pole International, a Korean fashion brand, and partnered with the creative branch of the brand Blo Blow Bar in 2014.

 

In 2009, she narrated the audiobook "The Brown Bear & Friends" by Bill Martin Jr. This audiobook earned Paltrow a Grammy Award nomination for Best Children's Talking Album. Since then, she has also narrated the rest of "The Brown Bear" audiobook series.

 

Gwyneth Paltrow is also a great activist. She is an artist Ambassador for Save the Children, an NGO that defends children's rights around the world. On November 12, 2009, she participated with the NGO, other numerous artists and more than 100 associations representing the interests of children, in the first World Pneumonia Day, to raise awareness of pediatric pneumonia and call for action.

 

She is also the Global Ambassador for the Frederique Constant Foundation, which directly supports the educational projects of DonorsChoose, a website that allows teachers to post requests for resources for their classrooms, and is committed to fighting racial and socioeconomic discrimination in school funding.

 

Paltrow is also on the board of the Robin Hood Foundation, a charity fighting poverty in New York City. In October 2014, she organized a Democratic fundraiser that President Barack Obama attended.

In 2020, Paltrow, along with other celebrities, discussed the Covid-19 pandemic with Doctor Anthony Fauci during an hour-long zoom call. He hoped that celebrities would use their voices on social media to encourage their fans to take the necessary precautions.

 

Paltrow is also involved in the Bruce Paltrow Oral Cancer Fund, a collaboration between the Oral Cancer Foundation and the Paltrow family, in commemoration of the late Bruce Paltrow who died of the disease. The goal of the foundation is to continue his vision of helping those less fortunate. It is thus designed to be used by focusing on populations in the United States where health care disparities exist.

 

Very attached to a healthy diet and fond of cooking, she published several cookbooks, and also signed in 2007 for the PBS television series "Spain... on the Road Again", which introduces Spanish food and culture. The following year, she co-wrote the book "Spain... A Culinary Road Trip".

In 2011, she published her first cookbook, "My Father's Daughter: Delicious, Easy Recipes Celebrating Family and Togetherness", followed the same year by "Notes From the Kitchen Table". Two years later, she wrote the book "It's All Good: Delicious Easy Recipes That Will Make You Look Good and Feel Great", which promotes an elimination diet unsupported by medical evidence. The book includes a recipe for avocado toast that was widely copied and adapted as part of a 2010s diet trend.

In 2013, Paltrow wrote a foreword for Ross Mathews' book, "Man Up! Tales of My Delusional Self-Confidence". In 2016, she published a new cookbook, "It's All Easy: Delicious Weekday Recipes for the Super-Busy Home Cook", followed by "The Clean Plate: Eat, Reset, Heal" in 2019.

 

Gwyneth Paltrow is also the Founder of Goop, a wellness and lifestyle brand and company. It was launched in 2008, initially as a weekly email newsletter with new age tips under the slogan "Nourish the Inner Look". Goop later became an online company with a website, and expanded into e-commerce.

 

Today, Goop is a 200-employee company and a global brand known for its ability to start important conversations and spread issues and ideas. It offers its own lines of clothing, skincare, fragrances, vitamins and nutritional supplements, and body products.

Goop's city guides offer an insider's view of the best places to eat, shop, stay and explore the world's most fascinating destinations.

Recent brand initiatives include the "Goop Press" editorial house, permanent stores in Los Angeles, New York and London called "Goop Lab", the growing "In Goop Health" wellness summit, a series of experiential pop-ups and "The Goop Podcast". A documentary series "The Goop Lab" was also released in January 2020 on Netflix.

 

In January 2021, Paltrow became an investor in Thirteen Lune, an e-commerce site focused on makeup, skin care, hair and wellness products owned by people of color. A few months later, her company Goop became Thirteen Lune's first brand ally.

 

In December 2022, Paltrow was the prestigious guest of the house of Veuve Clicquot at the 50th anniversary of the Bold Woman Award, which recognizes women entrepreneurs.

"An entrepreneur's journey has its ups and downs. I launched Goop in 2008, and in almost 15 years of entrepreneurship, I've gone through every emotion: anxiety, joy, doubt... Most people told me it wouldn't work or that as an actress, I would never be able to start a business." – Gwyneth Paltrow, for Elle Magazine.

 

Interviewed by Les Echos magazine, she says she is proud "to have created a provocative company that works for the cause of women. Goop has launched topics that at first seemed scandalous, but are essential, and often taboo, like women's self-confidence, sexuality, ending a marriage amicably."

Supporting women entrepreneurs is part of her principles. She likes to invest in their projects and put their brands in the spotlight. "The world will only be a better place if women have access to capital and power. But women's entrepreneurship is always a challenge, to raise funds, to be credible."

If she had any advice to give, it would be to be yourself at all costs, because "happiness has to come from you, never from someone else's perspective".

Now 50 years old, being herself is a philosophy that she applies more than ever and on a daily basis. She confided in People Magazine about this major milestone. "I feel so happy being 50. I really flipped out when I turned 40, because I thought, ‘My life is over. I’m not going to be attractive anymore, and society isn’t going to want me.’ I really panicked. Turning 50 was the polar opposite. I was like, ‘I’ve never felt better in my own skin, and I don’t care if people think I’m attractive or not. I love myself.’ It’s a great feeling". Even today, some things can still throw her off balance and she sometimes doubts herself, "but I think for the most part I know who I am. I like who I am. And I know the direction I’m going in. There’s an ease that has happened."

For her 50th birthday, and in an attempt to fight any criticism about aging, Gwyneth Paltrow caused a sensation by posing nude, covered only with bronze body paint. "It’s more about the female gaze and just a sense of fun. I think aging is actually a beautiful thing. We just need to open our perceptions. As you become more yourself, in integrity, your life really opens up."

 

https://gwynethpaltrow.com/

https://goop.com/

https://oralcancerfoundation.org/

https://www.savethechildren.net/

https://www.donorschoose.org/

https://www.robinhood.org/

https://www.frederique-constant.com.cn/foundation/

Interview – 50e Bold Woman Awards https://youtu.be/TsLPC30Fitk

 

Article by Julie Poutrel for Adama Toulon

 

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