Gwyneth Paltrow says Brad Falchuk's daughter 'taught her so much' in rare admission

Gwyneth Paltrow has made a rare comment about being a stepmother to her husband Brad Falchuk's children. The actress, 52, married the director and producer, 54, in 2018. Brad was previously married to Suzanne Bulnik and shares two children - Isabella and Brody - with her. Gwyneth was married to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and shares two children - 21-year-old Apple and 19-year-old Moses - with him.

On Saturday, Brad's daughter Isabella celebrated her 21st birthday, and the Goop founder used the occasion to publicly share her love for her stepdaughter. Sharing a recent photo of Izzy, Gwyneth wrote: "Happy Birthday my snizzle. You have taught me so much about love. I am lucky to be your stepmom."

Brad and Gwyneth often spend time with each other's children and just days ago, the Iron Man actress shared some family snaps on Instagram. The post, captioned Summer, included images of the family at the beach as well as them enjoying meals together.

READ MORE: Gwyneth Paltrow knew marriage to Coldplay's Chris Martin was over in one moment

Back in April, Gwyneth reflected on the difficulties of creating a blended family and mentioned some of the errors she made at the beginning. She said on her Goop podcast, with Brad as a guest: "We traversed through some really rough things.

"One of the most profound lessons that I've learned from my relationship with your daughter - which is now so fantastic - is there was a testing going on. She was testing me at the time to see at what point I would reject her."

She said she decided to take a maternal approach as she didn't want to build a reputation as an "evil stepmother" and explained: "I was going to be that presence for her, always loving and forgiving in the face of, you know, if she acted up, and show her that ultimately I was so there for her that she would not question my intentions or think that I was there to take you away from her."

But it wasn't all so easy, Gwyneth said, adding that she struggled with discipline as she thought that asserting boundaries or expectations early could "exacerbate the situation." If she could go back, she said, she would do things differently as she shared: "If I look back at my mistakes as a stepmother, I should have just treated them both like my kids way faster, like, I was too worried about everyone's feelings, in a way."

Brad and his first wife, Suzanne, met in 2001 when they were both aspiring producers trying to find their way in Los Angeles. Suzanne, who had moved from the Bronx in New York, was the bigger star to begin with, having produced the TV series According to Jim from 2001 to 2009. They married in 2003, welcomed their children and saw each other's careers continue to rise, in particular when Brad originated the series American Horror Story.

But it was his 2009 series Glee, of which he was co-creator, that made Brad a household name and also introduced him to his next big love, Gwyneth. Cast as Spanish teacher Holly Holliday in 2010, Gwyneth, 48, is said to have become firm friends with the Emmy-nominated star.

In March 2013, Suzanne filed for divorce, and Gwyneth and Chris announced their "conscious uncoupling"after a year of working on their marriage in March 2014. That July, Gwyneth and Brad were reportedly spotted enjoying a romantic weekend at the exclusive Amangiri resort in Utah, where onlookers claimed the actress was sunbathing topless next to Brad.

Then, in April 2015, the pair went public at Robert Downey Jr's 50th birthday party when sources told People magazine: "Gwyneth and Brad have had a personal relationship for a long time. It is still evolving."

However, when Brad and Suzanne's divorce reportedly stalled in 2015, Gwyneth is said to have been frustrated - particularly as her own divorce from Chris had been dealt with. "Gwyn is questioning the relationship," a source told Star magazine at the time.

"She finds it odd and embarrassing that Brad hasn't moved forward with his divorce. She wants him to settle things with his wife and move on." Matters were eventually resolved and in January 2018, Brad and Gwyneth announced their own engagement.

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