Were Gwyneth Paltrow And Johnny Depp Ever More Than Co-Stars?

Gwyneth Paltrow and Johnny Depp both have histories of dating fellow actors, including several they had worked with on movies. In 1996, Paltrow was engaged to her "Se7en" co-star, Brad Pitt, but they called it quits in 1997. Afterward, the "Iron Man" actor dated Ben Affleck, whom she worked with on "Shakespeare In Love," for several years. While appearing on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast in May, Paltrow shared insight on the physical nature of the relationships with her famous exes. "Because Brad was like the sort of major chemistry, love of your life, kind [of hookup]," Paltrow said. "And then Ben was, like, technically excellent," she added.

In 2015, Paltrow teamed up with Johnny Depp for the comedy "Mortdecai." Leading up to that film, Depp reportedly had romantic trysts with multiple co-stars. He supposedly had a fling with Angelina Jolie after working on 2010's "The Tourist" together. Beforehand, Depp was involved with Marion Cotillard after filming 2009's "Public Enemies," and he also had a romantic relationship with Kiera Knightley while working on the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise. Those relationships were not public, but came to light during the Amber Heard court case.

All those co-star romances led to speculation that perhaps Paltrow and Depp had a romantic connection on "Mortdecai." Paltrow clarified their relationship while on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast. "Never made out with him. But we did a movie together ... but we did not make out," she said. However, Paltrow did have a strong reaction to their on-screen kiss.

In "Mortdecai," Gwyneth Paltrow and Johnny Depp played husband and wife. Paltrow's character detests her husband's cartoonishly large mustache, which impacted a kiss the actors shared. "How come Penelope Cruz gets to do ['Blow'], where they're all sexy and making out and I'm making out with this, like, wig on his face?" Paltrow said on "The Rachael Ray Show" in 2015 (via People). "It was still pretty good, though," the "Contagion" actor added. Exchanging kisses with Depp while he had the mustache proved a problem, as it took Paltrow out of character. "I ruined probably 15 takes."

While promoting the film, both Paltrow and Depp played a game of "Never Have I Ever" on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," alongside their fellow co-star, Paul Bettany. "Never ever have I seen one of my 'Mortdecai' co-stars naked," the host asked, and all three actors turned their paddles to "I Have," although no details about who saw whom were given.

On that same episode of "Ellen," Paltrow spoke about being intimidated by Depp the first time she met him, which was four to five years before working together. "[H]e was like so cool, rolling cigarettes and stuff. And I was like, 'Wow, I'm a total nerdy mom,'" the "Emma" star said. Paltrow took a liking to her "Mordecai" co-star once they got to know each other, and described him as "inventive and funny" when speaking to USA Today in 2015. And Depp was there to impart advice to Paltrow when she was getting divorce.

Filming "Mortdecai" in 2014 coincided with Gwyneth Paltrow famously splitting from her longtime husband — and father of her children — Chris Martin. Knowing that Johnny Depp had broken up with Vanessa Paradis, the mother of his children, Paltrow turned to her co-star for guidance. "Nobody knew what Chris and I had been going through, so I didn't say, 'Hey, this is what's happening,' but I did ask him mostly children-centric questions, like, 'How is it on them?' and 'How did you do it?'" the "Shakespeare in Love" actor told Marie Claire in 2015 (via E! News).

When Paltrow spilled the tea about her past romances on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast in May, her daughter Apple Martin was in attendance. The podcast's host, Alex Cooper, shared a clip on Instagram of Martin covering her ears as her mom opened up about her sex life. "LMAOO ily Apple thanks for supporting the show ... and your mom on this ep," Cooper wrote in the caption of the vid. 

After wrapping up the trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard, Depp decided to date outside of the Hollywood actors pool. In September 2022, "The Secret Window" star was romantically linked to his lawyer, Joelle Rich, who represented him in a libel case against The Sun, which was separate from the Heard trial. "Their chemistry is off the charts," a source told Us Weekly at the time.