Gwyneth Paltrow makes rare comment on her and Brad Pitt's age-gap relationship
Gwyneth Paltrow’s crush on Brad Pitt eventually blossomed into a full-fledged relationship, and now the actress is opening up about whether their age gap played a role in their romance, or if it even mattered at all.
The Goop founder gave a rare night into her relationship with the F1 actor.
It all started when she first spotted him in the movie Thelma & Louise, which was Pitt’s breakout role.
“I grew up, I remember seeing Thelma & Louise in the movie theatre,” the Oscar winner told Benny Blanco and Lil Dicky on the Friends Keep Secrets podcast.
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It was an instant attraction, as Gwyneth recalls thinking, ‘and being like, ‘That is the most handsome man.’”
When the film came out in 1991, Gwyneth was around 18. She would eventually cross paths with her crush when they starred opposite each other in David Fincher’s thriller Se7en in 1995. Better yet, they played a married couple and sparks soon flew off-screen too.
"I get cast in the movie with Brad, and I met him on set," Paltrow shared. "We had kind of a love at first sight thing. It was pretty awesome. It was really fun."
Despite Brad Pitt being eight years her senior, the actress never let the age gap give her pause, as she, like lots of people, were drawn to one of the 1990s’ most iconic heartthrobs.
"No, because he was so beautiful.”
She added: "I think he was 31 and I was 22."
More recently, in 2024, dating experts noted that age-gap relationships were becoming increasingly common.
The relationship was one of the most high profile for both actors, especially in the ‘90s. They got engaged in 1996 and Gwyneth recalled her growing fame due to her movies and because of who she was dating.
"I had movies coming out, so I was sort of getting famous on my own, and I was famous as his girlfriend," she shared, describing the tabloid media attention ‘overwhelming’ and a ‘big thing.’
In this particular timeline, the Sliding Doors star and Pitt never reached the altar.
"We were working all over the different parts of the world," she explained about their split. "I think there was an aspect of it that was very heady. I was very young, and he was this beautiful movie star."
Gwyneth and Brad reportedly consciously uncoupled around June 1997, about a year after they got engaged. They had been romantically linked since 1994.
The Fight Club actor began dating Jennifer Aniston in 1998 after they were introduced by their managers. They tied the knot in July 2000 and divorced in 2005.
Brad and Jennifer became a huge fixture in tabloid media as well as being two massive names in Hollywood. Brad famously guest-starred in an episode of Friends in November 2001 playing Will Colbert, a former high-school classmate of Rachel Green.
Gwyneth started dating Coldplay singer Chris Martin in 2002 after meeting backstage at one of the band’s concerts. They married in 2003 and remained together until 2014.
She is now married to Brad Falchuk, a TV writer, producer and director best known for his work with Ryan Murphy on Glee, American Horror Story, American Crime Story and 9-1-1.
Greg Harris