Gwyneth Paltrow's other side

A common misperception of me is that I am cold, says Gwyneth Paltrow, who's having fun revealing her true self to the world. The actress talks about acting, singing and being the face of US leathergoods brand Coach.Of the actresses working today — and let's even include those from earlier generations — few seem able to inspire such opinion, divisiveness — even wrath — among the movie-going public as Gwyneth Paltrow.She knows it, too.When tabloid! caught up with the actress recently, she was in Beijing, performing ("performing" being the operative word, as you will see later) her duties as the face of US leathergoods brand Coach, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.But when the talk strays from handbags ("I am totally a bag person," she says) into her life, she opens a small window into the world of an actress continually on the receiving end of snide remarks.She opens strongly: "A common misperception of me is that I am..." before her voice quietens. "Cold."She gives a giggle. Whether she cares about this misperception, she doesn't reveal. But the Shakespeare In Love star is making strides, she says — not to correct people, but simply to show the world another side of her.With projects like Glee — in which she had a recurring guest role as a substitute teacher, Holly Holliday — her cookbook, and her hilarious tweets, does she think the world is getting to know the real Gwyneth?"I agree. I think I've had a lot of opportunity lately to express my real self, my more humorous side, my more open side," says Paltrow. "It's been a nice change."The revelation that she actually cooks and eats — her cookbook, My Father's Daughter, is dedicated to her late father Bruce Paltrow, and has few of the macrobiotic recipes she was once famous for, and more duck, drinks and stone-baked pizza with her kids — probably went some way to changing people's perceptions of her, although it received its fair share of backlash too, mainly aimed at the price of the more unusual ingredients she uses and namely, that backyard pizza oven.Outside the US, her smiling face adorns adverts for Coach, in a campaign shot by acclaimed photographer Peter Lindbergh. ("I've worked a lot with him in the past and we had a very fun day shooting, it was easy and fast and wonderful," she says) — another avenue for her to put herself back in the public eye, in a different way.