Gwyneth Paltrow's Father's Cancer Inspired Her Own Wellness Journey

Gwyneth Paltrow is opening up about her late father, Bruce Paltrow's impact on her life.

Bruce, an American television and film producer, and director, died in October 2002 following a prolonged battle with cancer. At the time of his passing, he was in Italy celebrating Gwyneth's 30th birthday. The 58-year-old was diagnosed with oral cancer in 1999, an event that influenced his daughter to make specific lifestyle changes.

Although it has been many years since Bruce passed, his effect on Gwyneth's life has remained indelible. The "Seven" star recently spoke about how finding out that her father had cancer encouraged her to toe a different path during an appearance on "CBS Sunday Morning."

Gwyneth's prompt to shed light on that aspect of her life came after the host, Jane Pauley, asked when she started caring about wellness. After a slight giggle, the "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" star responded:

"I'll tell you exactly. When my father got cancer, and I was helping him one day, you know, feeding him with a syringe and feeding tube. And it struck me like…' what is in this can that I'm injecting directly into his stomach?' It was the first time I made a connection between food, wellness… I'll never forget that moment."

In fact, the moment was so impactful that Gwyneth started researching and sharing what she learned until she arrived at founding Goop — a weekly lifestyle newsletter prompting readers to "nourish the inner aspect."

From there, the soon-to-be 50 actress expanded into Goop.com —  a web-based company that sells her beauty, lifestyle, and skincare products. The actress later revealed that the company's name was born after someone informed her that "successful internet companies have double O's in their name."

Another unforgettable event in Gwyneth's life came after Bruce's funeral when she returned to London, where she was living at the time. According to PEOPLE, the actress disclosed that her initial grief following her dad's death was "so physical" that she thought it would "split me open."

Recalling an incident that happened after her London return, the Golden Globe Award winner said, "I woke up in the middle of the night, and I thought I was having a heart attack. The only reason I didn't call the emergency services is because I didn't know that in England, you dial 999; in America, it's 911. Honestly, I thought I was dying. It was really, really tough."

She added that there was no other way to deal with losing "a love of their life like that" than just trying to "process your grief and keep going." The "Shout" actress also said one "upside" of having Bruce "die so young" was that she "had so much life left to build."

Gwyneth has previously shown how much her father has inspired her in life, going as far as honoring his memory by marrying her husband — Brad Falchuck — near the place where they buried his ashes.

In July, Paltrow expressed her opinion on the institution of nepotism. The Blast shared that the conversation happened when the "Deadly Relations" star appeared on an episode of Hailey Bieber's YouTube series, "Who's in my Bathroom?" 

After stating that even though having famous parents could provide kids with more significant opportunities, they often had to work twice as hard to prove themselves and keep those opportunities, Paltrow explained: 

"Why, you may ask? Because people are ready to pull you down and say, 'You don't belong there or 'You are only there because of your dad or your mom."

Paltrow's advice to people who had famous parents was for them not to limit themselves or their dreams because nobody had enough power to dent their decisions and actions negatively. The word of advice seemed to resonate deeply with Bieber, who also has famous parents, as she admitted, "I need to hear this today." 

Paltrow further discussed working with the media personality's father when she was much younger, describing him as "great." In her words, "I did a movie with your dad. It was a tiny independent movie. I think I was like 20 years old, so it was a really long time ago, but he was great."