Gwyneth Paltrow Explained Why She "Stepped Away" From Acting Almost Two Decades Ago

Even though she hasn't had top billing in almost 20 years, Gwyneth Paltrow has managed to stay in the headlines, appear in movies and TV shows, and spearhead her polarizing beauty and lifestyle brand, goop. Recently, however, she took some time to reflect on her decision to step away from acting full-time. In a new interview with People, Paltrow explained that after she gave birth to her daughter, Apple, who is 19 years old, her priorities shifted away from winning Oscars and starring alongside Robert Downey Jr. in Marvel blockbusters, and she zeroed in on being a mom.

"Well, it's kind of ironic because I really stepped away from acting when Apple was born," Paltrow said of motherhood. "The last time I was in every scene of a movie was when I was pregnant with her."

She went even deeper, saying that the demanding schedules that come with feature films didn't fit in with her plans to be a mother, saying, "When I had her, it just, everything felt redefined for me, and I thought, 'I'm not sure that I want to do this so much as a career. I definitely don't want to ... I'm not going to go away for months on end.'"

Paltrow shares Apple and a son, Moses, who is 17, with her ex-husband, Chris Martin. 

Paltrow will always and forever be associated with that pink Oscar gown, her role in Netflix's The Politician, Pepper Potts, vagina-scented candles, and yoni eggs, but being a mom has been her greatest joy.

"It's so fun to have a daughter that age, especially because she's into clothes and skin and all that kind of stuff," Paltrow told Bustle earlier this year of having Apple grow up, find her passions, and go to college. "She's more girly than I am. She's really good at doing makeup and loves to do it."

"It's great because she's plugged into the cool stuff, and not the rubbish-y, depressing part of our culture," Paltrow added of the sort of things that Apple is drawn to — including her mom's beauty products. "We were FaceTiming yesterday and she was telling me how she uses all the goop products. I never pushed anything, but over time she's just migrated over to it, and so I was beaming from ear to ear."

See More