The daughter of actress Blythe Danner and Bruce Paltrow it was perhaps inevitable that her life path would lead her to film and performance, but her career started modestly, with small roles in films such as Hook directed by her Godfather Steven Spielberg. But in 2003 she gained national attention for her high profile role in the film Flesh and Bone starring Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid.

That was followed up with lead roles in movies such as se7en starring then boyfriend Brad Pitt and A Perfect Murder starring Michael Douglas.

She would later receive an Oscar for her performance as Viola De Lesseps in the critically acclaimed box office hit Shakespeare In Love.

She is now considered one of the elite leading ladies in Hollywood with a mix of critically acclaimed performances as well as blockbuster box office hits in films such as Shallow Hal with Jack Black, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow with Jude Law and The Royal Tenenbaums directed by Wes Anderson.

In 2003 she married musician and Coldplay front man Chris Martin.

She is one of the stars of the 2008 summer blockbuster Iron Man.