Gwyneth Paltrow and her stress over dating Brad Pitt: “Oh my God, not only am I not ready, but I’m not up to it again.”

The Los Angeles native broke through as an actress in the 1990s and early 2000s making a name for herself, initially in lower budget films before transitioning to Hollywood blockbusters and franchises. During her career the 52-year-old has won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award.

Paltrow gained notice for her early work in films such as Seven (1995), Emma (1996), Sliding Doors (1998), and A Perfect Murder (1998). She garnered wider acclaim for her role as Viola de Lesseps in the historical romance Shakespeare in Love (1998) which earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress.

With the fame and fortune came the high profile relationships and in 1996 Paltrow became engaged to actor Brad Pitt, whom she dated from 1994 to 1997.

According to Paltrow, they called off the engagement because she was not ready for marriage and later admitted this was her first high-profile relationship with another celebrity.

‘Pitt is intriguing’

Speaking to Vanity Fair for their April issue, the actress reflected on her relationship with Pitt and recalled how the connection between the two was instant and “major love at first sight.”

Revealing she called off their engagement because she wasn’t ready to marry, the actress admitted that she was still “totally heartbroken when we broke up.”

“It was the right thing at that time, but it was really hard,” Paltrow explained. “There were a number of things that had happened, he was nine years older than me … he knew what he wanted, he was ready to do it, and I was kind of all over the place.”

“So it was really one of those difficult things, where I felt like, ‘Oh my God, not only am I not ready, I’m not living up to the standards again.’ It was a familiar refrain I felt about myself,” she added.

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