The famous couple of the 1990s, Brad Pitt - Gwyneth Paltrow, were passionately in love and engaged, but the fairytale wedding could not take place.
The upcoming biography Gwyneth: The Biography by journalist Amy Odell reveals details of the famous love story of Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Pitt, from the passionate relationship, the romantic proposal to the reason for the breakup and the mixed emotions of the Shakespearean beauty in love when Brad married Jennifer Aniston.
The golden love of Hollywood in the 90s
Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Pitt met in 1994 while filming Se7en. The actress fell in love at first sight when she met Brad on the set. Not long after, they became one of the most sought-after couples in the entertainment industry. The combination of Brad's handsome appearance and Gwyneth's classic temperament, along with their fame, made the public extremely admire them.
At the end of 1996, the couple got engaged during a romantic vacation in Argentina. However, less than a year later, in June 1997, they suddenly announced that they were breaking off their engagement. Brad Pitt's representative at that time confirmed that the two stars broke up peacefully, not because of any specific event.
Why did they break up?
According to the revelations in the upcoming biography, the cause of the breakup was not scandal or betrayal, but came from the silent cracks in the process of falling in love. During the filming of Emma, Gwyneth Paltrow confided to a crew member that she did not know if she and Brad were compatible.
"Brad and I grew up in very different environments. For example, when we went out to eat and ordered caviar, I had to explain to him: This is beluga, that is osetra," Gwyneth told the interviewer (whose identity was kept secret) in the biography.
The actress and Brad have different backgrounds and lifestyles. Gwyneth was raised in a wealthy, prestigious family in Hollywood, with her father being director and screenwriter Bruce Paltrow, her mother being veteran actress Blythe Danner, and her godfather being director Steven Spielberg. Meanwhile, Brad Pitt's family is middle-class in Missouri, with neither of his parents working in the arts. His father ran a trucking company, and his mother was a high school career counselor. The different cultural backgrounds and little things are said to have made Gwyneth Paltrow wonder if the two of them were really suited to go the distance.
The book also revealed that the actress confessed to friends that she had feelings for co-star Hugh Grant while filming Emma and then John Hannah in Sliding Doors. Meanwhile, Brad was said to be feeling insecure about Gwyneth's success and popularity. This caused the young actress to fall into an emotional turmoil, and she had to seek help from her close friend, makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin. "Kevyn frankly advised Gwyneth: 'You really need to end this,'" the book said.
Later, in a 2015 interview with Howard Stern, Gwyneth admitted: "I was really in love with him. He was handsome and sweet, but I was so young at the time. I was 22 when I met Brad. I wasn't ready, and I didn't know what I was doing. He was too good for me."
Heartbroken When Brad Marries Someone Else
After splitting from Gwyneth in 1998, Brad dated actress Jennifer Aniston. He proposed to the Friends star in 1990 and married a year later - a lavish event that was dubbed the "wedding of the century" in Hollywood. Gwyneth Paltrow was devastated and disappointed.
During an interview in September 2000 at the Toronto Film Festival, a reporter asked Gwyneth how she felt about Brad Pitt marrying Jennifer Aniston. She snapped back with a "dagger in her eye: "Are you really asking me that? I have no comment."
An excerpt from the book says that the actress did not share anything in public, but confided to friends that she felt sad when Brad Pitt got married. "She also said that Brad had very bad taste in women."
Some sources told author Amy Odell that at that time, Gwyneth Paltrow thought Brad was stupid and no longer the man she loved.
Gwyneth's reflections on her young love with Brad Pitt
Years later, after having experienced many relationships, Gwyneth Paltrow has a clearer view of her youth. In some of her old memories, Gwyneth always affirmed that Brad was the great love of her life. In 2023, the actress explained on the podcast Call Her Daddy that the relationship with Brad probably came at the wrong time when she was still immature and did not know how to maintain a deep relationship and Brad, who was more mature than her, At the age of 9, she already knew what she wanted. "In many ways, I didn't really come into my own until I was 40," the beauty reflected.
The Oscar-winning star said that they are currently friends and that she really appreciates Brad. "He's a wonderful man. I really love him," Gwyneth said.
In the same interview, when asked to compare Brad Pitt with another ex-lover from the late 1990s, actor Ben Affleck, Gwyneth revealed that Brad was more romantic than Ben, but both were "good kissers". When asked who was better in bed, Gwyneth laughed and replied: "It's really hard to compare. Because Brad had a very strong chemistry, he was the love of my life at that time, a passionate love. And Ben has excellent bed skills".
In 2022, Gwyneth had the opportunity to reminisce with Brad Pitt when she invited him to share about fashion on the lifestyle site Goop. During the conversation, she mentioned that her late father, Bruce, supported Brad Pitt and wanted him to become her son-in-law, "even though we didn't get married, unfortunately", she said. Brad laughed and replied. "Oh my gosh, everything turned out okay, right?".
Gwyneth Paltrow replied: "Yes. I finally found the Brad I wanted to marry. It just took me 20 years," Paltrow said, referring to film producer Brad Falchuk, whom she married in September 2018.
Gwyneth is currently happily married to Brad Falchuk. Previously, she divorced Coldplay singer Chris Martin in 2014 after more than 10 years of marriage, with two children. As for Brad, the Legends of the Fall actor divorced Jennifer Aniston in 2005, then had an 11-year relationship with actress Angelina Jolie. After divorcing "Mrs. Smith" in 2016, the actor dated jewelry designer Ines de Ramon.