Gwyneth Paltrow has enjoyed a successful career that most aspiring actors only dream of. Making her breakthrough in the 1990s with films like Se7en, Shakespeare in Love, and The Talented Mr. Ripley, Paltrow has starred in several blockbuster hits throughout her career and has amassed an impressive net worth.
While Paltrow has won over fans all over the world with her famous performances, she isn’t always the biggest fan of her own work. There was one movie in particular, in which Paltrow had to wear a fat suit, that she counts as her least favorite performance. The actress even went so far as to call the film “a disaster.” Critics have since slammed the film as being problematic.
So which role does Gwyneth Paltrow regret more than any other, and how do her co-stars feel about it? Keep reading to find out!
Which Film Does Gwyneth Paltrow Regret?
In an interview with Netflix, Gwyneth Paltrow admitted that her least favorite performance of her career is the film Shallow Hal.
The interview involved her best friend and assistant Kevin Keating being quizzed on how well he knows her, and when asked what her least favorite performance was, he said, “I would say it would be Shallow Hallow. I’m not sure who told you to do that one, but it wasn’t me.”
“I wasn’t there working for you,” he continued. “Not around for that.”
“That was before your time,” the Sliding Doors actress confirmed. “See what happened? Disaster.”
The Film 'Shallow Hal'
Warning: spoilers ahead!
Shallow Hal was released in 2001 and earned a score of 5.9 stars out of 10 on IMDb. The film follows the story of Hal, played by Jack Black, an incredibly shallow man who only dates women who are physically perfect, despite not being physically perfect himself.
When Hal gets stuck in an elevator with life coach Tony Robbins, Robbins hypnotizes him to only see women’s inner beauty. Soon after, he falls in love with Paltrow’s Rosemary, an overweight woman who he sees as being thin.
Hal eventually becomes un-hypnotized and sees the real Rosemary but, by that time, he has already fallen in love with her and her appearance no longer matters.
Why ‘Shallow Hal’ Has Been Criticized
Shallow Hal has been labeled problematic by viewers and critics for its portrayal of overweight people. Although the film claims to send the message that inner beauty is more important than outer beauty, it makes several “fat” jokes and continuously pokes fun at overweight people through the character of Rosemary.
Rosemary is seen breaking chairs just by sitting on them, causing a massive splash after jumping into a pool, and eating nearly an entire cake in one sitting, considering it only a “sliver.” Rosemary is also called insulting names by Hal’s best friend Mauricio, played by Jason Alexander.
The Farrelly Brothers’ Response To The Criticism
Peter Farrelly, who made the film, responded to the criticism in an interview with the Chicago Tribune not long after its release date.
“It never occurred to us to make fun of heavy people; it wasn't our intention,” he explained. “Besides, heavyset people are everywhere. It would be pretty insensitive not to understand how hard it is to be heavy. And it's cultural! A woman with some meat on her was the height of attractiveness at one time and will become so again."
How Gwyneth Paltrow Felt While Making The Film
Gwyneth Paltrow explained that the worst part of making the film was enduring the discrimination that overweight women experience regularly.
“The first day I tried the fat suit on, I was in the Tribeca Grand and I walked through the lobby,” Paltrow said (via The Guardian). “It was so sad. It was so disturbing. No one would make eye contact with me because I was obese. I felt humiliated.”
Paltrow added that the clothes made for overweight women are “horrible” and that people were “really dismissive” of her when she was in costume as Rosemary.
Does Jack Black Regret Making ‘Shallow Hal’?
According to Looper, Jack Black also doesn’t look back fondly at Shallow Hal. “I had an opportunity to work with some dudes I thought were really funny, but it didn't turn out as I'd hoped, I wasn't proud of it, and I got paid a lot of money, so, in retrospect it feels like a sell-out,” he explained in a 2006 interview.
IMDb points out that, ironically, Jack Black actually had to lose weight to portray the role of Hal. He has since suggested that he won’t lose weight for a film role again as Hollywood’s obsession with weight is stupid.
Despite the film they made together being “a disaster”, Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow remain good friends to this day.
