One of her next challenges will be an explicit lesbian sex scene in a film called The Passion. She said: "I'd do anything that makes a story more interesting - and this one is very interesting indeed. The love scene is great and it will be quite a challenge."
Miss Paltrow refused to give away too much about the Miramax movie, which starts shooting next year, but did add: "I play a woman who falls in love with a French countess and ends up having her heart broken by her. We haven't cast the countess yet but it should be happening soon."
Miss Paltrow is apparently something of a lesbian sex symbol.
She admitted: "I love the thought - why not?"
The Oscar-winning actress, who turns 30 next month, has been a gossip-column fixture thanks to her relationships with Luke Wilson, Brad Pitt and Ben Affleck - but she says she no longer pays attention to what is said about her.
"I came into my twenties feeling very naive," she said. "I went into this business completely open-minded, not knowing what life was going to be like, either workwise or personally.
"It's been dizzying in a way. I've watched, horrified, as people have got things wrong about my private life and assumed that I've been dating this guy or that.
"I can't have a male friend walk me to a car without his life being turned upside down. I've felt bad about how it hurts others but I've given up reading about how they handle it.
"I've been the centre of so much gossip over the last few years, the only way I can deal with it is by not reading about it. I don't watch or appear on entertainment shows. It would drive me crazy."
Miss Paltrow's latest film role is a cameo appearance in the new Austin Powers film Goldmember, playing the delightfully named Dixie Normous. "The whole thing was so much fun," she said. "I spent a day hanging out with Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise. I couldn't believe that everyone - people like Kevin Spacey and Danny DeVito - had agreed to be in it."
