Gwyneth Paltrow
Catherine, Proof
Age: 33
Birthplace: Los Angeles
Essential filmography: Seven (1995), Emma (1996), Great Expectations (1998), Shakespeare in Love (1998), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Sylvia (2003), Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)

PREMIERE: What was your first acting job?
My dad was doing a television series about a high school called High, and it was shot in New Jersey. Zach Braff was in it, actually! My dad gave me a little part, because I just begged him and begged him and wouldn’t let up. That was my first paid acting job, which was again nepotism, courtesy of my father, thank you very much.

Why did you take the part in Proof?
I first saw the play in New York with Jennifer Jason Leigh, and it was so compelling. One of the things which was so appealing is that you never come across a role like that, written for a young woman. Catherine is conflicted in so many ways.

What was the toughest scene to play?
Probably the most challenging scene for me to do was after she’s said that she’s written a proof, and she’s trying to convince her sister that she wrote it. I was so used to doing it in the theater and going through the whole arc of that scene. We used to literally run out of film, and I found it very frustrating to keep going back. It was pretty emotional and pretty exhausting, but well worth it.

If you weren’t acting, you would be . . . ?
It would be amazing to have a restaurant, not in this life, but in another version. I cook all the time. I think I would like to cook professionally.