Gwyneth Paltrow's 'Proof'

Gwyneth Paltrow reunites with director John Madden for a big screen adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Proof."

Under his direction, she received an Academy Award for her portrayal of Viola de Lesseps in "Shakespeare In Love." Now, the Oscar talk has begun again.

Also under Madden's direction, Paltrow played the role on stage at the Donmar Warehouse in her London theater debut, a performance that was universally acclaimed.

"It was fantastic," she tells The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith about her stage experience. "The piece itself is so engaging and the characters are so rich and well-developed. I felt really reinvigorated about acting and why I was doing it to begin with."

According to the film's production notes, Paltrow takes the role of Catherine, a young woman who has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father, a mathematical genius named Robert, (Anthony Hopkins). And she must deal not only with the arrival of her estranged sister, Claire (Hope Davis), but also with the attentions of Hal (Jake Gyllenhaal), a former student of her father's who hopes to find valuable work in Robert's 103 notebooks.

"I think the only element that I would add is the mystery element in the film," Paltrow says. "It is what drew me so much to the play. It's kind of a who-done-it, but not in a murder way, but sort of a psychological way."

Careerwise, now that her daughter is 16 months old, Paltrow says she she plans to work perhaps once a year. "Not more than that," she says. "My time with her is too much fun and too precious. And it goes so fast. I don't want to miss her new words. I mean, that would just break my heart. I'm just trying now to figure out how to find a balance to work, because I am an artist, and I am a working mother, but I really want to be with her. It's a difficult thing to figure out."

Some Facts About Gwyneth Paltrow

• Born Sept. 28, 1972, in Los Angeles.
• Married to Chris Martin, lead singer of the rock group Coldplay. Their daughter, Apple Blythe Alison Martin, was born May 14, 2004, in London, England.
• Paltrow is the daughter of a film director, the late Bruce Paltrow, and Tony Award-winning actress Blythe Danner.
• She attended Spence School in New York City; later, she attended the University of California, majoring in art history, but quit to begin a career in acting.
• In 1991, Paltrow worked with her mother in the Williamstown Theatre Festival's "Picnic."
• She made her film debut in "Shout," with John Travolta, in 1991.
• Paltrow was once engaged to "Se7en" co-star Brad Pitt, but they separated in 1997.
• In 1998, Paltrow won an Academy Award for her performance in "Shakespeare in Love." She also worked in the films "Hush," "Great Expectations," "A Perfect Murder" and "Sliding Doors."
• In 1999, she co-starred in a murderous love triangle with Matt Damon and Jude Law in Anthony Minghella's drama, "The Talented Mr. Ripley."
• In 2000, her father directed her in "Duets." TV star Scott Speedman was cast in the role originally earmarked for former boyfriend, Brad Pitt. The film offered Gwyneth Paltrow a chance to show off her singing abilities. The karaoke-themed film scored something of a hit with the soundtrack cut "Cruisin'," a Smokey Robinson song performed by Paltrow and Huey Lewis. Later that year, she also co-starred with former flame Ben Affleck in Don Roos' "Bounce."
• In 2001, Paltrow starred in the Farrelly brothers comedy "Shallow Hal," playing the woman Jack Black's titular character falls for. And she worked in "The Royal Tenenbaums" as the grown-up incarnation of a child prodigy playwright.
• In 2002, she co-starred with Aaron Eckhart in Neil LaBute's adaptation of A.S. Byatt's novel "Possession." But the year was marred by the death of her father.
• In 2003, she starred as a woman who takes a job as a flight attendant in an effort to lead the glamorous life in "A View From the Top." She also worked in the art-house minded biopic "Sylvia," playing the acclaimed yet troubled poet Sylvia Plath. In between, the actress stayed in the limelight with her romance and subsequent marriage to Martin, and her high-profile pregnancy.
• In 2004, she returned to major Hollywood fare with the retro-yet-fresh action adventure "Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow."

  She is currently working on the Truman Capote biopic "Every Word is True," portraying singer Peggy Lee, and on the comedy "Running With Scissors," co-starring Annette Benning.