Gwyneth's crossroads

http://www.canoe.ca/JamMoviesArtistsP/paltrow_gwyneth.html
Saturday, April 25, 1998
By LOUIS B. HOBSON -- Calgary Sun


HOLLYWOOD -- The romantic drama Sliding Doors takes a unique look at love.

Gwyneth Paltrow plays a young British woman who gets fired from her
job, so she heads back home unannounced.

At the train station, the doors to her car open.

Helen has two courses of action. She can get into the train or she can
miss it.

That simple decision will change her life forever.

Writer/director Peter Howitt looks at Helen's life from both sides of
that door.

If she fails to catch that particular train, Helen will remain in a
relationship with her cheating boyfriend Gerry (John Lynch).

If she catches the train, Helen will meet a new suitor in James (John
Hannah), another passenger on the train.

"We've all been faced with such life-altering decisions," says Paltrow.
"Five years ago, I was starring with my mother (Blythe Danner) in a
(stage) production of Picnic.

"On the same day, I got an offer to audition for the Broadway play
Sisters Rosensweig and another to read for the Meg Ryan/Dennis Quaid
movie Flesh and Bone.

"There are days I still wonder what my life would be like if I'd gone
to the New York audition instead of the one in L.A."

For one thing, Paltrow, 25, would likely never have met, got engaged
to and broke up with Brad Pitt.

She would likely never have become the dream girl of Miramax Films,
which secured the lead for Paltrow in Sliding Doors.

Producer Sydney Pollack recalls that he was originally looking for an
unknown British actress to play Helen.

"We had a $3-million budget and we were in pre- production when Gwyneth
got hold of the script. She called Miramax and said she wanted to do
the film.

"That instantly escalated the stakes. We got to double our budget and
add a couple of weeks to our shooting schedule."

Like Paltrow, Hannah was 20 when he made the decision that would
eventually see him become a popular actor.

"I'd never been to a live play in my life. I loved watching movies.
That's what I thought acting was.

"I had quit school when I was 16 and was looking for something to do,"
says Hannah, who is best known as Simon Callow's gay lover in Four
Weddings and a Funeral. "I saw this audition notice for a drama
school. I went on the audition, never for a moment believing I'd get
into the school.

"I did, and it's changed my life immeasurably," he says. "If I hadn't
gone on that audition, I'd probably be an electrician on a building
site."

Paltrow's latest personal sliding door experience occurred when she
started dating Ben Affleck, one half of the Oscar-winning writing
team of Good Will Hunting.

Paltrow is currently filming the thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley
with Affleck's best friend and writing partner, Matt Damon.

"I wouldn't be surprised that Ben put in a good word for me with
Matt," she says.

Paltrow returned the favor. She set Damon up with her best friend,
Winona Ryder.

The foursome are now double dating.