Gwyneth Paltrow's naked body is painted gold in 50th birthday photoshoot: 'I feel so good'

Gwyneth Paltrow has marked her 50th birthday today by sharing a photo of herself in her birthday suit, wearing nothing but gold body paint.

The actor and Goop founder has honoured her milestone celebration by sharing a nude image on Instagram featuring herself covered head-to-toe in metallic gold from a special Goldfinger-inspired shoot.

“All I know is that they’re painting me gold and that I have to be naked,” the Goop website reports Paltrow said while on set with photographer Andrew Yee a few weeks ago.

“I feel so good turning 50, and this is about expressing that sense of energy and optimism that I’m experiencing,” she added. “It’s more about the female gaze and just a sense of fun.”

Her accompanying Instagram caption for the side shot, with Paltrow looking down, reads '50' in between two gold stars.

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Celebrity pals rushed to wish her happy birthday, including Reese Witherspoon who commented "Oh YES to this!!', her personal trainer to the stars Tracy Anderson with "Happy Birthday to the trailblazer that has mastered the art of living well beautifully!!!! Love you @gwynethpaltrow happy 50!!!!!!!!!!", Architectural Digest editor in chief Amy Astley with "HBD GP!" and many others.

Meanwhile, fans filled the comments with praise like, "Golden girl", "If I looked like this at 50, I would walk around naked PERMANENTLY", "Stunning" and "Living your life like it’s Golden! Happy Birthday."

Vogue magazine also shared two more images from the shoot on Instagram, one of her top half facing the camera, and another side on snap, this time facing the lens too.

In an accompanying interview reflecting on the milestone with the magazine, Paltrow said, "I feel great. I feel very happy and fulfilled and not scared and weirdly not freaked out about it."

But this is in contrast to previous significant birthdays.

"I remember turning 30 and feeling like there was so much pressure to be married and have a baby. I was not in a serious relationship when I turned 30, and I remember just thinking, I’m disappointing my parents," she explained.

"I haven’t married my stockbroker or a lawyer, and I’m this weird artist. When you’re in your 20s, you’re really a kid, and I think there’s this expectation that when you’re 30, you are going to really start to have a handle on your life.

"And then when I turned 40, I really freaked out."

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But, after discussing what it's been like to approach ageing as someone known for her image, wanting to move back to America from England, and her first marriage not working out, she's now found more of a sense of calm.

"And then turning 50, it’s been a lot smoother than I thought," she said. "For the last year or so leading up to it, I have been ruminating on these different chapters in a woman’s life. What does it mean to go through perimenopause and then later menopause? And why is that a taboo, and why are we put out to pasture?

"I’m really so happy with the people that my kids are, and I’m in a really fantastic relationship. And my work, even though it’s full of challenges, is very rewarding."

She also credits her health and vitality to the investment she started making when she was younger – with the exception of falling back into smoking a couple of times.

"I feel like those choices that I started to make in my mid-20s around implementing a yoga routine; starting to really research and anecdotally experiment with healthier food, less processed food; and doing detoxes and stuff like that really set me on a path of getting to a place of turning 50, and crossing that threshold feeling great," Paltrow told Vogue.

Though, she also said proudly, "I've earned my wrinkles."

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The star was married to Chris Martin for 10 years before first announcing their divorce in 2014, with it officially happening a couple years later. She shares her two children, Apple, 18, and Moses, 16, with Martin. Paltrow memorably coined the phrase 'conscious uncoupling' when describing their split.

She married her present husband writer, producer and director Brad Falchuk in September 2018, who has two children, Isabella and Brody Falchuk from his 10-year marriage to Suzanne Bukinik.

Watch: Gwyneth Paltrow: 'My mind was f***** up by winning Oscar aged 26'!