Gwyneth Paltrow Said No to Sex Scene with Ethan Hawke in ‘Great Expectations’ — Here’s the Reason

Gwyneth Paltrow has opened up about why she refused to film a sex scene with Ethan Hawke in the 1998 movie Great Expectations.

In a Vanity Fair video released on December 17, the actors looked back on their first meeting nearly 30 years after starring together in the film adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic novel.

According to the actors, director Alfonso Cuarón had suggested a love scene where Paltrow’s character would receive o** s** from Hawke’s character. Paltrow explained her hesitation, saying, “I was like, ‘Oh, my God, my father’s going to have a heart attack.'”

Hawke recalled the way Cuarón described the scene, “‘The camera is going to go down your belly, and then it’s going to go up your b*****, 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!'” He added, “And I remember looking at Gwyneth, and Gwyneth is like, ‘Alfonso, I’m never going to do that.'”

Paltrow, now 53, said she felt very self-conscious about her family seeing the scene early in her career. “It really bothered me,” she said, adding, “Now, I wouldn’t care.” Hawke praised her for handling the situation well, saying she was 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,” he told her.

Reflecting on it now, Paltrow admitted, “Maybe I was too prudish in the moment,” with Hawke reassuring her, “I don’t think you were.” “I was definitely worried about it,” Paltrow added.

In Great Expectations, Paltrow played Estella, while Hawke starred as Finnegan “Finn” Bell, a young man who falls for her in this New York-set romantic drama written by Mitch Glazer.

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