- - Gwyneth Paltrow Refused a Sex Scene with Ethan Hawke in “Great Expectations” Because She Thought Her Dad Would Have a Heart Attack

Charlotte PhillippDecember 28, 2025 at 1:46 AM

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Gwyneth Paltrow; Ethan Hawke -

Gwyneth Paltrow is opening up about why she declined to film a sex scene with Ethan Hawke in 1998's Great Expectations

In a video for Vanity Fair, she said she was "self-conscious about my dad and grandfather seeing this kind of stuff"

The movie was an adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations, with Paltrow starring as Estella and Hawke portraying Finnegan “Finn” Bell

Gwyneth Paltrow is opening up about why she declined to film a sex scene with her Great Expectations costar Ethan Hawke.

In a video for Vanity Fair, published on Dec. 17, the actress, 53, and Hawke, 55, looked back on their first meeting, nearly three decades after the pair shared the screen in the 1998 movie adaptation of Charles' Dickens' classic novel.

According to the duo, Paltrow was pitched a sex scene by the film's director, Alfonso Cuarón — and she declined.

"Do you remember Alfonso pitching you the love scene?" Hawke asked, to which Paltrow replied, "Oh, my God," before explaining that Cuarón suggested a scene in which her character would have received oral sex from Hawke's character.

"I was like, 'Oh, my God, my father’s going to have a heart attack,' " she recalled.

Lawrence Schwartzwald/Sygma/Getty

Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow filming 'Great Expectations'

Remembering how Cuarón described the scene, Hawke said: " 'The camera is going to go down your belly, and then it's going to go up your breasts, and then it's going to go in your face as you reach ecstasy. And then when you reach ecstasy, the light will explode like to the sun!' "

"And I remember looking at Gwyneth, and Gwyneth is like, 'Alfonso, I'm never going to do that,' " he continued, as Paltrow laughed.

According to the Goop entrepreneur, she felt "really self-conscious about my dad and grandfather seeing this kind of stuff" in the early days of her career.

"It really bothered me," she explained, adding, "Now, I wouldn't care."

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Hawke shared that he thought his costar handled the situation well at the time, describing her as firm but not "petulant."

"You had an awareness of the way that the business works, and the ways in which those kinds of images could be manipulated and what it meant to your dad," Hawke told Paltrow.

"Maybe I was too prudish in the moment," Paltrow admitted, prompting Hawke to reply, "I don't think you were."

"I was definitely worried about it," Paltrow added.

Paltrow played Estella in the New York-set romantic drama, written by Mitch Glazer. Hawke starred as Finnegan “Finn” Bell, a naïve young man who falls for Estella.

Elsewhere during their conversation for Vanity Fair, the two actors, who reunited to chat about their current projects — Paltrow’s Marty Supreme and Hawke’s Blue Moon — reflected on how they have both stayed true to their roots.

“We were two extremely idealistic young people who had a great vision for what we wanted to do and how we wanted to contribute,” Hawke said. “And you were never ordinary. You’ve always been you.”

“I think we are fundamentally very much the same people,” Paltrow replied. “I think, you know, we have had these lives that have taken all kinds of twists and turns, but I think we’ve both remained true to ourselves and who we are.”

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”