'I got him'
Gwyneth Paltrow settles down with Hollywood's hottest heart-throb

http://www.canoe.ca/JamMoviesArtistsP/paltrow_gwyneth.html
Wednesday, May 15, 1996
By MARY JANE KLETKE
Calgary Sun


NEW YORK -- Being known as Brad Pitt's girlfriend doesn't annoy
Gwyneth Paltrow.

"It doesn't bother me," she says.

In fact, the 23-year-old actress is downright proud to be dating
the sexiest man alive.

"Normally, actors are insane, vain and insecure," says Paltrow,
who's currently co-starring with David Schwimmer in the feature
film The Pallbearer.

"It's kind of a girl's job when you think about it. But Brad's the
one good one and I got him!"

She's not letting go of the 32-year-old Pitt anytime soon, despite
some advice from her father, TV producer Bruce Paltrow, about not
marrying an actor.

"If you're with a decent honest person, then there's really no
better match. Who else is going to understand what it feels like
coming from a press junket? Or how it feels when you go from one
movie to the next, or shooting a six-day week, or when your co-star
is giving attitude in that very subtle, manipulative, I'm-a-movie-
star way. It's kind of a bond."

So does that ring on her finger from Pitt mean they're engaged?

"No. It's just a nice gift."

Then again, not everyone in Hollywood gets married before they
start having children. However, Gwyneth's mother, actress Blythe
Danner, advised her daughter not to rush motherhood.

"My mother said, 'I can't wait until you have children but just
kind of live your life first and travel.'"

Gwyneth is trying to balance her life as an actress with being the
love of Brad Pitt's life. She'll star in the upcoming features
films, Emma, and an updated Great Expectations. But she's also
there when Pitt needs her.

He acknowledged her support when he described her as his "angel"
during his acceptance speech at the Golden Globes for his
performance in 12 Monkeys.

"That was so sweet," she says. "My dad said, 'Between Brad and
Tom Hanks, every woman in America is going to want to file for
divorce.'"

And she left her nervous beau alone just before the Oscars.

"Brad was just wandering around the garden, doing his landscaping.
I just let him do his thing."

But the glare of the spotlight upon them is not easy. Some
embarrassing nude photos of them surfaced and fabricated stories
abound.

"Sometimes it's really difficult because it's so invasive. There
are times and places where you expect it, if you go to a premiere
or if you're at some kind of public event or place. But when they
stalk you and take pictures and write things that aren't true,
obviously it's frustrating. You wouldn't be human if you weren't
frustrated by it. But, at the same time, you can't let it get to
you."

They actually laughed at some of the outrageous and false stories
printed about them.

"The one that I liked was about Brad giving sperm to Melissa
Etheridge and her girlfriend Julie (Cypher). And that I actually
decided it wasn't acceptable and I forbade him from doing it.

"So he called Melissa and Julie and said, 'Girls, I won't be
showing up with a Dixie cup anymore."

The differences in their childhoods is a bonus rather than
detriment, she says.

Gwyneth got into "a fair amount of trouble" as a kid but she says
Pitt was "a good boy."

Pitt has been quoted as saying he grew up on macaroni and cheese.
But Gwyneth had a privileged background.

"He's learning quickly," she says, adding he's even learned the
different types of caviar.

"It's kind of nice because you bring much different things and
much different mental frameworks to the relationship.

"It's just fun to step into the other one's shoes and see how they
were raised and what they were like."