The star’s only big-screen credits over the past five years have been as Pepper Potts in three Marvel films.

She said she lost direction after winning an Oscar in 1999, and “part of the shine of acting wore off” because of the “intense public scrutiny”. That, plus having “a really rough boss” in Harvey Weinstein, made her question “if this is really my calling”.

Her last lead role in a feature film was opposite Johnny Depp in 2015’s Mortdecai. She has since played Pepper Potts in Avengers films Infinity War and Endgame, and Spider-Man: Homecoming.

She has also appeared on Netflix series The Politician and The Goop Lab, about the controversial lifestyle brand she launched in 2008, and a tourism advert for Dubai.

The actress, 48, won her Oscar for Shakespeare in Love, which was followed by roles in films like The Talented Mr Ripley, Shallow Hal, Proof and Contagion.

She said that “my life changed course” after finding success in Hollywood. “I think that when you hit the bullseye when you’re 26 years old and you’re a metrics-driven person who frankly doesn’t love acting that much as it turns out… It wasn’t like I felt like this isn’t worth doing, I felt like, well now who am I supposed to be? What am I driving towards?”

“This wasn’t conscious at the time. And part of the shine of acting wore off [from] being in such intense public scrutiny, being a kid who’s living every break-up on every headline, being criticised for everything you do, say and wear and also, it’s so transitory, you’re always all over [the world]. It’s hard to plant roots. I’m such a homebody. You know me, I like to be with my old friends and cook and squeeze my kids. I don’t want to be alone in a hotel room in Budapest for six weeks. It’s just not who I am”.

“So if you compound those things with the fact that, to be totally candid, I had a really rough boss for most of my movie career at Miramax… Like, so you take all those things, you’re like, ‘I don’t know if this is really my calling.'”

Paltrow made films including Shakespeare in Love, The Talented Mr Ripley and Emma for Weinstein’s company Miramax.

In 2017, the actress said Weinstein summoned her to his hotel suite after casting her in Emma, and placed his hands on her and suggested massages in his bedroom.

She said she told her then-boyfriend Brad Pitt, who confronted the producer. Weinstein is serving 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault.