Paltrow’s last starring role came in 2010’s “Country Strong.”

Gwyneth Paltrow sets first lead role in over a decade with Strangers adaptation

Paltrow's last starring role came in 2010's "Country Strong."

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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March 25, 2026 4:14 p.m. ET

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Gwyneth Paltrow at the BAFTA Tea Party in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 10, 2026. Credit:

Earl Gibson III/Deadline via Getty

Gwyneth Paltrow is heading back to the big screen.

The *Royal Tenenbaums* actress will headline an adaptation of Belle Burden's best-selling book *Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage*. Paltrow will also serve as an executive producer on the project, with Heidi Schreck, who wrote the acclaimed play *What the Constitution Means to Me*, penning the script. Stacey Sher, who previously worked with Paltrow on *Contagion*, will produce the movie. A director has yet to be announced.

Burden's memoir begins with the author living comfortably with her family in Martha's Vineyard at the start of the pandemic in March 2020. Her world is rocked when her husband of 20 years suddenly leaves her with no warning, prompting her to reflect on where the relationship went wrong.

Netflix won a six-way bidding war for the rights to the book, which was published in January.

Paltrow in 'Country Strong'.

Scott Garfield/Screen Gems

The film will mark Paltrow's first leading role since 2010's *Country Strong*. For nearly two decades, the Oscar-winning actress has focused more on her lifestyle brand Goop, which launched in 2008, than on acting.

The vast majority of Paltrow's screen appearances in the 2010s came in Marvel Cinematic Universe films, playing Pepper Potts in *Iron Man 2*, *The Avengers*, *Iron Man 3*, *Spider-Man: Homecoming*, *Avengers: Infinity War*, and *Avengers: Endgame*. (If that's hard to keep track of, don't worry — even Paltrow herself doesn't know which Marvel movies she's in.) Her only non-MCU movie performances of the last 15 years were in 2011's *Contagion*, 2012's *Thanks for Sharing*, 2015's *Mortdecai*, and 2025's *Marty Supreme*.

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On the small screen, Paltrow has played supporting roles on *Glee* and *The Politician*, both of which were produced by her husband, Brad Falchuk, whom she married in 2018. She also guest-starred on episodes of *Web Therapy*, *Nightcap*, and *The New Normal*. She recently leant her voice to an episode of *American Horror Stories*, also produced by Falchuk.

Paltrow at the 98th Oscars in Los Angeles on March 15, 2026.

Arturo Holmes/Getty

Paltrow recently spoke with ** about being "petrified" to return to the big screen with *Marty Supreme*.

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"Acting is so weird. It's so hard to explain how you do it. It's not a skillset that...it's not a trade that you learn and you get onboarded into how to do something," she said on *The Awardist* podcast. "It's so weird and ephemeral and kind of magic. So I was like, *how did I used to do this? And am I still going to be able to do this? Am I going to be able to access all that stuff and the energy and in the moment?*"

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