Gwyneth Paltrow poses nude, paints body gold for 50th birthday photo shoot
Gwyneth Paltrow is going gold for 50 years.
In honor of the Oscar-winning actor's 50th birthday on Sept. 27, Paltrow posed nude with her body painted gold for an intimate photo shoot.
"I feel so good turning 50, and this is about expressing that sense of energy and optimism that I’m experiencing," Paltrow said in a press release of the picture project. "It’s more about the female gaze and just a sense of fun."
In an essay for her lifestyle brand Goop, Paltrow recalled the "reckoning" that her parents felt when they turned 50 — her mother's joys and her father's sorrows.
"On September 27, I’ll turn 50. As I sit here contemplating this idea in the late summer morning, no moisture in the air, breeze moving only the tops of the trees, I strangely have no sense of time passed," she wrote.
Paltrow said she understands only some parts of life feel "linear" and that she has "more in the basket under my arm than I do in the field before me." However, she said she sees a "sweetness of life" that will remain unchanged even with this new age.
Describing the feeling of aging and seeing physical signs, Paltrow said she has one particular mantra that she remembers during moments of "reckless thoughts."
"I accept. I accept the marks and the loosening skin, the wrinkles. I accept my body and let go of the need to be perfect, look perfect, defy gravity, defy logic, defy humanity. I accept my humanity."
Giving advice to her 21-year-old self, Paltrow said she would tell her to "know my boundary and hold on to it more tightly than my life itself."
So what's next for the now-50-year-old? Paltrow said she would like to "slow down."
"I would like to retreat a little bit. I would like to make my circle smaller. I would like to cook dinner more. I would like to see misunderstandings become understandings. I would like to continue to open the deepest part of myself to my husband, even though it scares me. I would like to sing more, even if it’s just in the shower. I would like to tell anyone that had a negative experience with me that I am sorry. I would like to fully acknowledge myself," she said.
Paltrow ended her essay saying that her kids are the "greatest accomplishment" of her life, noting that they're now old enough to remember this big birthday.
"And that I really won’t know what it was like to turn 50 until much later, when I can reflect back from a higher perch, perhaps at one of their 50ths, hearts full and broken simultaneously (as that is life)," she wrote.
On Sept. 22, the actor and businesswoman posted a photo in a bikini, leaping across the grass with a smile ahead of her birthday.
"Musings on a milestone," she captioned the black-and-white picture, accompanied by a black heart emoji.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
