Gwyneth Paltrow credits her big screen return in "Marty Supreme" to the "confluence of events" between its talented filmmaker Josh Safdie, co-star Timothée Chalamet, and finally being an empty nester at home.
Paltrow joined "Good Morning America" on Monday ahead of the film's debut on Dec. 25, and said that throughout her career, she has "tried to work with really interesting filmmakers" from Wes Anderson to Paul Thomas Anderson -- and now Safdie.
"And also my kids -- it was like, empty nest," she continued, speaking to her motivation to return to the screen after a multi-year acting hiatus. "And I thought, 'Why not try?' ... And I thought it would be fun to go to New York and get back into it, and I'm so glad I did, because I had the best time."
Paltrow plays Kay Stone in the film, a retired movie star who becomes involved with aspiring ping pong champion Marty Mauser, played by Chalamet. The film follows Marty, described as "a young man with a dream no one respects," as he "goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness," according to a synopsis.
Paltrow said she had a lot of firsts on the set of "Marty Supreme," from sharing the screen with Chalamet to witnessing "Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary take on his first major acting gig in the film, playing her character's husband, Milton.
"He was great," she said. "...To be honest, I was a little nervous. Like, it's a big role, and it's a brave move to put a non-actor in a part like that, and I just thought he nailed it. I mean, everyone was so impressed."
The first public glimpses of Chalamet and Paltrow in character as Marty and Kay included a now-viral photo from set of the two kissing in the park.
"You should have seen my mommy-group chats when the paparazzi pictures came out of us kissing in the park," she said. "All the moms were pretty stoked. My British school moms too -- yeah, it was like a global event, apparently."
As with any new acting commitment, Paltrow said the elements that will continue to attract her to more big screen projects include the "quality" of the people involved.
"I think the group of people, the collective -- like, in this movie, we have the best cinematographer almost of all time, Darius Khondji, Jack Fisk, a legendary production designer -- so, you know, being in something you feel like is a very special group," Paltrow said.
She added that she was "excited to work with Timothée Chalamet because he's obviously so talented."
Although Marty is "not classically likable throughout a lot of the film," Paltrow said, "he has this beautiful arc towards morality, which I found very moving in the film when I watched it."
"But yeah, it's not like a straightforward Hollywood movie," she added.
Paltrow's last major film was Marvel's "Avengers: Endgame" alongside Robert Downey Jr. in 2019. With the highly anticipated "Avengers: Doomsday" set for release in December 2026, "GMA" co-anchor George Stephanopoulos asked if Paltrow would reprise her role as Pepper Potts.
"I don't know. I'm not sure I've heard of that one," Paltrow said with a smirk.
