Ruth Jones has opened up about her “heartbreaking” early-career encounter with Gwyneth Paltrow.
The 57-year-old star of Gavin and Stacey said that Gwyneth, 51, was “dismissive” of her when they were filming the 1996 movie Emma, in which Ruth portrayed Bates’ maid.
Despite being a worldwide celebrity, Gwyneth had just two lines in the movie that would mark Ruth’s debut.
But Ruth said that after Gwyneth said there was no need for a second one, her time in the spotlight was reduced to just one.
Chatting on podcast Rob Brydon &, Ruth explained: ‘I had two lines, I had to announce Gwyneth Paltrow and say, “Miss Woodhouse is here” and then I had to say “Goodbye Miss Woodhouse” at the exit and let her out, and Gwyneth Paltrow cut one of my lines.
‘She said, “Does she really need to say that, can I just come in?” Imagine this for people who are starting out. You’ve got two lines, and someone cuts 50% of your script, it’s heartbreaking.’
She continued: ‘I had to do the scene letting her out of the house, you can imagine the camera is on the other side of the door, in this beautiful little village, lovely little thatched cottage.
‘We were waiting for them to shout action, so it was just me and Gwyneth behind the door. She didn’t want to talk to me, I was a nothing was I, I had two lines then I was down to one.
‘So, I tried to make conversation with her and at the time she was going out with Brad Pitt. And I said, “do you have any Welsh connections?”
‘Because Gwyneth, I always think of as a Welsh name. “How come you’re called Gwyneth?” She said, “My mother had a friend called Gwyneth and she really liked the name, so she called me Gwyneth.”
‘She was quite dismissive of me, so I was thinking it’s an old woman’s name where I come from so when you get married, you’re going to be Gwyn Pitt!’
Naturally, Gwyneth did not become Gwyn Pitt because her and Brad’s romance ended in 1997.
Lifestyle expert Gwyneth now resides with her husband Brad Falchuk, a television producer, and their two children, Apple, 14, and Moses, 12, whom she shares with her former partner, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. Pitt married and later divorced Angelina Jolie.
Ruth continued to star in television shows Drovers’ Gold the next year, As Time Goes By in 1998, and the movie The Theory of Flight the same year.
While Ruth costarred with Michael Sheen as Mandy in the 2002 film Heartlands and made an appearance in the film Fat Friends, her national recognition did not come until 2003, when she starred in Little Britain.
Ruth’s role as Nessa in Gavin & Stacey for 21 episodes following that solidified her status as a well-liked mainstream British actress.
Source My Celebrity Life.
