Gwyneth Paltrow starred alongside Jack Black in Shallow Hal in 2001, and her daughter, Apple, was born in 2004.
Perhaps by no coincidence, Shallow Hal director Peter Farrelly had a baby daughter named Apple while Paltrow, 52, was filming the movie. Farrelly, 67, wonders whether the actress got the name from him.
Peter and his brother, Bobby, who also directed the film, appeared on the Wednesday, November 20, episode of The Jess Cagle Show, where cohost Julia Cunningham raised the point.
“You have a daughter who’s a rising actress, and I was shocked to see that her name is Apple — possibly the original Apple,” she said. “I was thinking, did that name seep into Gwyneth Paltrow’s brain during Shallow Hal?”
Sharing her motherhood moments! Gwyneth Paltrow has opened up about raising her kids since becoming a mom in 2004. Two years after the actress and her then-husband, Chris Martin, welcomed their daughter, Apple, their son, Moses, arrived. Following the former couple’s 2014 split, they began amicably coparenting their kids. “He’s really like my brother,” the […]
“Apple was a baby when we did Shallow Hal,” Peter mused, before adding, “Gwyneth has never given us credit for that.”
Gwyneth Paltrow and Jack Black in ‘Shallow Hal’ Cover Images
Paltrow shares Apple, now 20, and son Moses, 18, with ex-husband and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. The two memorably coined the phrase “conscious uncoupling” when they announced their split in 2014. They finalized their divorce the next year.
Paltrow married writer and director Brad Falchuk in 2018. Martin is now engaged to actress Dakota Johnson.
The actress has not confirmed where she thought of the name Apple, but she praised her eldest child in an Instagram post in May, celebrating Apple’s 20th birthday.
Gwyneth Paltrow, Jack Black and director Bobby Farrelly filming ‘Shallow Hal’ Cover Images
“How can it be that you are 20 today? It feels surreal!” she wrote.“I love your WWII insights as much as I love your physical comedy. You are the most fun to be with and you have always been. From those days when it was always you and me to now, you are my lil ride or die. You are everything to me and I am so proud of you.”
Apple shared her appreciation in the comments, writing, “You are the best mama a girl could ask for. I am so lucky the universe gave me to you.”
Though Apple and Moses are both nearly grown, Paltrow has been open in the past about coparenting with Martin, with whom she has remained close.
“Chris and I committed to putting them first and that’s harder than it looks because some days you really don’t want to be with the person that you are getting divorced from,” Paltrow said on The Drew Barrymore Show in September 2020. “But if you’re committed to having family dinner then you do it. You take a deep breath, and you look the person in the eye, and you remember your pact, and you smile, and you hug and you recommit to this new relationship that you are trying to foster.”
As for Martin, he will “always look at [Paltrow] as family,” a source told Us Weekly in December 2023.
The source added that Martin is “thankful” that he and Paltrow have remained “focused on putting their children first despite things not having worked out between them.”
