When it comes to Gwyneth Paltrow, there’s a decent chance she won’t even remember appearing in a film (our sincerest apologies, Tom Holland) let alone a specific scene or line of dialogue.
And, to be fair, there are a handful of Paltrow performances we’d like to forget existed, too ― raise your hand if you’re still scarred from Shallow Hal. But there is one on-screen moment she’ll cherish forever.
At the 20th-anniversary screening of Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums on Monday, Paltrow expressed her sincere fondness for a particular scene from the beloved film in discussion with cast members including Owen Wilson, Anjelica Huston and Luke Wilson.
In one of the movie’s tenderest moments, Paltrow’s character Margot Tenenbaum steps off the bus, reuniting with her brother Richie (Luke Wilson), for whom she harbours a secret love.
Set to Nico’s cover of These Days, the slow-motion sequence ends with the two characters embracing as the song plays on.
“My dad was there, and it was this very special day,” Paltrow said of the scene, according to Entertainment Weekly. “I really hate, hate seeing myself in a movie ever. That’s kind of like the only scene that I can watch of myself, like of my whole career.”
The actor’s father, Bruce Paltrow, died suddenly in Rome of complications resulting from pneumonia only a year after The Royal Tenenbaums hit theatres.
The Goop founder has spoken lovingly about her father, who was a film and television director, throughout the years.
In a recent video for Vogue, Paltrow recalled how her dad surprised her by purchasing the jewellery she wore on the red carpet at the 1999 Oscars, where she won her first and only Academy Award.
“I wore the earrings and necklace when I got married to Brad in homage to my dad, as a way of keeping him there with us,” she said of her 2018 nuptials to writer and producer Brad Falchuk, before joking, “You guys made me cry, you dicks! I hate crying in public.”
Paltrow also reflected on her Tenenbaums character’s particular sense of style and how it has inspired “many a Halloween costume” in the years since.
“I think the best thing about how Margot dresses is that it’s totally original and totally enigmatic, which is her,” she said in the video. “She’s really hard to figure out, and that’s what her clothes say.”