One of Gwyneth Paltrow's co-stars in the 1996 movie Emma has accused the actor of pulling a "heartbreaking" move by unwittingly cutting their screen time in half after complaining about a line in the script.
Paltrow starred in the acclaimed period comedy as Emma Woodhouse, whose attempts at matchmaking her friends cause chaos in her own love life. Based on the 1815 Jane Austen novel of the same name, the movie's star-studded cast included Toni Collette, Alan Cumming, Jeremy Northam and Ewan McGregor.
Welsh actress Ruth Jones was in the early stages of her career when she landed the small role of "Bates' Maid" in the film. However, she has now stated that her experience on the set left a lot to be desired.
Speaking of the latest episode of Wondery's Brydon & podcast, which is hosted by her longtime friend and Gavin & Stacey co-star Rob Brydon, Jones looked back over her career before sharing a less-than-favorable recollection of her time in Paltrow's presence.
Newsweek reached out to a representative of Paltrow via email for comment.
"It was the first film I'd done. I had two lines [in the script]," Jones said. "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."
Jones said of Paltrow: "She said, 'Does she really need to say that. I mean, can I just come in?' Now, imagine this for people who are starting out. You've got two lines, and someone cut 50 percent of your script. It's heartbreaking.
"I was very fortunate because Sophie Thompson [who played Miss Bates] was in that scene as well...and she was lovely and it was really nice. But with Gwyneth, no, she wanted to cut my lines.
"When 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 Dorset village, lovely little thatched cottage," Jones went on. "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 mean, I was a nothing. I had one line, then I was down to one.
"So, I tried to make conversation with her. 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. Where did the name come from? 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, 'Yeah, well it's an old woman's name where I come from, love, and when you marry Brad Pitt, you're going to be Gwyn Pitt.'"
Despite her recollection of their interaction, BAFTA winner Jones, who is currently starring in a London stage production of the musical Sister Act, later conceded that expressing the need to cut others' lines is a "tricky" task.
"I would never say it in front of the actor. I would never embarrass them like that," she told Brydon. "You have to do things that are right for the show, don't you? You're not doing it just to be mean. But it is a very tricky one, that."
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Ryan Smith is a Newsweek Senior Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
