ABSTRACT
If her publicity is to be believed, Gwyneth Paltrow is a Hollywood princess, the “It Girl,” the most promising young American actress of the twenty-first century. 1 At the age of twenty-seven, she won Academy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actor’s Guild Best Actress Awards for her performance in Shakespeare in Love, only her second starring role. Lavish praise has also consistently been bestowed upon her by her directors, who routinely describe her as one of the most gifted screen talents working in contemporary Hollywood. For instance, after working with her briefly when he cast her in a small role in her first film, Hook (1991), Steven Spielberg remarkably characterized her acting as “classical.” 2
