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Could two roles be farther apart than Ginnie and Emma? Nonetheless, the first part helped her get the second. "I grew up in Texas," McGrath says, "and my friends and I used to just kill ourselves laughing when movie actors did Texas accents. People always sounded like the Clampetts. But Gwyneth did the most impeccable Texas accent in Flesh and Bone. She has an amazing ear. And, of course, everything else is perfect. Her speaking voice is a beautiful instrument, and she photographs like a dream--all the light goes to her on the set, and she seems to absorb it and then give it back."
Oh, and Brad's a nice guy too. He'd better be, to impress Ms. Danner: "When we heard she was going out with him, we said, 'Oh no.' But he's just a gem, very grounded and family-oriented and loving and real."
At the moment, Paltrow is filming the role of the sad waif Estella in Great Expectations, due out next year. But if you think she is doomed to play only transatlantic prisses in genteel screen dramas, think again. "Gwynnie is very American," says Kloves, "but the interesting part of American--dark, dangerous. Her appeal is her mystery and unpredictability. It's what people liked about Steve McQueen." Hmmm. Maybe Paltrow can be the one-stop movie star of the next millennium: Grace Kelly and James Dean, in one glorious package.
--Reported by Georgia Harbison and William Tynan/New York and Jacqueline Savaiano/Los Angeles