Gwyneth Paltrow 'Stepped Away' from Acting After Apple Was Born: 'Everything Felt Redefined' (Exclusive)

Gwyneth Paltrow is revealing how motherhood impacted her career.

While speaking with PEOPLE for this week's cover story, the Goop founder, 51, shared that she hasn't been in an entire movie since before her 19-year-old daughter Apple was born.

"Well, it's kind of ironic because I really stepped away from acting when Apple was born," Paltrow told PEOPLE of how motherhood has enhanced her career. "The last time I was in every scene of a movie was when I was pregnant with her."

"When I had her, it just, everything felt redefined for me, and I thought, 'I'm not sure that I want to do this so much as a career. I definitely don't want to...I'm not going to go away for months on end.'"

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Paltrow shares her two kids — Apple and son Moses, 17 – with ex Chris Martin.

In October, the actress spoke with Bustle about her daughter, who recently started college. "It's so fun to have a daughter that age, especially because she's into clothes and skin and all that kind of stuff," said Paltrow.

"She's more girly than I am. She's really good at doing makeup and loves to do it."

Asked if her daughter teaches her new skills, the proud mom said that although she doesn't wear much makeup, she learned a thing or two from Apple. "It's great because she's plugged into the cool stuff, and not the rubbish-y, depressing part of our culture," the actress explained.

"We were FaceTiming yesterday and she was telling me how she uses all the Goop products. I never pushed anything, but over time she's just migrated over to it, and so I was beaming from ear to ear."

"She's such an eminently nice person, and her values are in the right place," she told the outlet.

In an Instagram Q&A in August, Paltrow opened up about being a stepmom to husband Brad Falchuk's two kids — son Brody, 17, and daughter Isabella, 19 — admitting "I did find it really hard at first."

"You know, there’s no book on this; nobody tells us what to do. And in fact, all of the existing media around what a stepmother is casts us in this evil, villainous light," she continued, "So it’s kind of like trying to avoid land mines. And then you’re going into a family with dynamics. And there’s all kinds of fear around loss and what does this person mean?"

Paltrow added, "But for myself, the minute I decided, and fully embodied the idea that my step kids were my kids and I love them just as much and I gave them the same rules and boundaries, and just kind of whole-heartedly went for it, then the easier the whole thing got. And now it’s pretty great."

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