Gwyneth Paltrow’s Best Advice: “Eff What Anybody Else Says”

Red magazine’s December issue gets a little goop-inspired magic from the guest editor and Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow. And, it’s safe to say that the Ironman star doesn’t pull any punches in the interview accompanying her dazzling cover shoot, photographed by Max Abadian.

This has been a big year for Paltrow. The actress turned 40 and relocated her family from London to L.A. But, Paltrow takes everything in stride, seeming almost sanguine about the changes occurring in her life — and how others perceive it. "This is the thing, it’s like the older I get I realise it doesn’t matter what people who don’t know you think," she explains. "It doesn’t matter. You’re wasting your energy. It’s like, if your partner comes to you — or your best friend — and says, 'Listen, I want to talk about something you did that hurt me, or I think you could improve,' sit down and listen to what they have to say. But some friend of so-and–sos — it’s like, who gives a sh*t?"

Paltrow is equally candid about her attitude toward women who hate on other women. It’s a no go in her book, especially if the topic is on how women should be balancing their work and home lives. "It makes me cross…I personally think that the work/life balance for a woman should be exactly what she feels is right for her," says Paltrow. "And nobody else can set her time schedule. And nobody else can tell her how many hours a week she needs to devote to this, that or the other… f**k what anybody else says… It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. That’s what we’ve got to let go of."

As for the move to L.A., don’t worry Londoners, this honorary Brit isn’t making it a permanent move. As always, the decision focuses around the well-being of her children: "I don’t want [Apple and Moses] to be teenagers in L.A. No way. I’m looking at this like two years, three years tops, then we will go back. It’s part of my parenting philosophy that children should get the opportunity to reinvent themselves at a few points in their childhood to see where their strengths and weaknesses lie and to experience living in different cultures…It’s an experiment. We’ll see."

Click through to see a selection of pictures taken from Paltrow’s cover shoot. The full interview appears in the December issue of Red, which is on sale November 6 and is guest-edited by Paltrow and her team at goop. The digital edition is also available on Apple newsstands. For exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of Paltrow’s cover shoot, go to Red magazine. (Red)