<\/p>\n
Gwyneth Paltrow worried about being seen as an \u201cevil stepmother\u201d.<\/p>\n
The 50-year-old actress \u2013 who has Apple, 18, and Moses, 16, with first husband Chris Martin \u2013 admitted she had reservations about her relationship with now-husband Brad Falchuk\u2019s two kids Isabella, 18, and 16-year-old Brody because she was convinced whatever she did would be \u201cwrong\u201d.<\/p>\n
Speaking on a podcast for her brand Goop, Paltrow said: \u201cThere\u2019s just no playbook for how to do it. I think there\u2019s this like archetypal evil stepmother and this inference it\u2019s going to be this fraught thing, so I came into it on tenter hooks like, \u2018Oh my gosh, you can only kind of do the wrong thing.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
The \u201cIron Man\u201d star admitted her \u201ctrepidation\u201d was her \u201cone regret\u201d about becoming a step-parent and finding her voice \u201cshifted everything\u201d, so she\u2019d advise other women in her position to treat their partner\u2019s children the same way they would their own.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cHowever many years ago I was like, \u2018F*** it, these are my kids. I love them. I\u2019m not gonna like, be scared to discipline them.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone asked me for advice on it, I would just say from day one, just really treat them as your kid.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just wish I had done that earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n
Falchuk \u2013 who has his teenagers with ex-wife Suzanne Bukinik \u2013 thinks Paltrow is a \u201cspectacular stepmom\u201d and he loves the bond she shares with his kids.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cYou have a relationship with them outside of me. They talk to you all the time, they come to you for advice all the time, they rely on you.\u201d<\/p>\n
In return, Paltrow praised the TV producer as an \u201cexceptionally good\u201d stepfather and asked if he had a strategy in mind when they got married.<\/p>\n
He replied: \u201cI think you have to define yourself as a step-parent the way you would define yourself as a parent, like, \u2018Who am I in terms of archetype dad?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cTo me that just means providing stability and guidance and a sense of boundaries for the household and for the family. Also just trying to be a guide to them from my experience and my wisdom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Falchuk thinks Martin is a \u201cgreat dad\u201d and believes the Coldplay frontman is \u201ca lot more fun\u201d than he is.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThe great thing is I don\u2019t have to be their dad. I don\u2019t have to provide the things their dad provides for them. He loves them and spends time with them and all that stuff. So, all I have to do is just be \u2018dad\u2019 when I\u2019m the dad in the house.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 51-year-old writer sees Apple and Moses in a \u201cvery sort of unique special way\u201d.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cIt\u2019s just coming in it with that confidence where I\u2019m not trying to replace their dad. \u201cBut I am a dad to them and I\u2019ve been lucky that there wasn\u2019t a huge amount of resistance to that.<\/p>\n
\u201cFundamentally, I love them like they\u2019re mine, because they are.\u201d<\/p>\n