Gwyneth Paltrow denies disparaging America
Showbiz Desk

LOS ANGELES—Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow insisted on Monday that contrary to a recent article in a European newspaper, she feels “proud to be American” and would never compare her homeland unfavorably to Britain.
In a statement issued through People magazine’s Web site, Paltrow said she was “deeply upset” by remarks attributed to her by the Portuguese newspaper Diario de Noticias, which quoted the actress as saying: “The British are much more intelligent and civilized than the Americans.”
“I never, ever would have said that,” said Paltrow, 34, who is married to British rock star Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay, and resides part time with him and their two children in London.
“I feel so lucky to be American,” she said. “I feel so proud to be American.”
“This is what I said,” Paltrow explained. “I said that Europe is a much older culture, and there’s a difference. I always say in America, people live to work, and in Europe, people work to live. There are positives in both.”
She added: “Obviously, I need to go back to seventh-grade Spanish.”
Paltrow, who won an Academy Award in 1999 as best actress for her role in “Shakespeare in Love,” was most recently in theaters in the film “Running with Scissors.”
Meanwhile, Gwyneth Paltrow feels dinner talk is far more interesting in her adopted homeland Britain than back in her native country.
“I love the English lifestyle, it’s not as capitalistic as America. People don’t talk about work and money, they talk about interesting things at dinner,” she told “NS”, the weekend magazine supplement of daily Portuguese newspaper Diario de Noticias.
“I like living here because I don’t fit into the bad side of American psychology. The British are much more intelligent and civilized than the Americans,” the 34-year-old added.
Paltrow, who won a best actress Oscar for 1998’s “Shakespeare in Love,” lives in London with British band Coldplay’s frontman Chris Martin whom she wed in 2003.