By Robert Hofler

We met to talk about Paltrow's latest movie, The Pallbearer, in which the 23-year-old actress plays David Schwimmer's girlfriend. ``Not much to talk about there,'' she says. So we talked about fame instead.

Q: I understand that Brad Pitt visited the set when you and Schwimmer had your love scenes. Wasn't that distracting?

A: No, not at all. Brad stopped by whenever he wanted. It's great to have your best friend there to support you and encourage you. I go to his set.

Q: You're always being asked about Brad . . .

A: It's tedious . . . exhausting. There's a line between wanting to answer someone's question and being rude.

Q: Does the press ever get it right?

A: Actually, the press exists in a separate world from the world that we reside in, printing all these lies. It can get annoying, but you can't let it upset you. Someone actually wrote that Brad wore a pair of my underwear to the Oscars. It's so untrue. Who would make up something like that? There's a ridiculous overload of speculation on us. You wonder why it's interesting to people. It's sort of unfathomable.

Q: Are there places you can't go together, because of all the fans?

A: We can't go to a mall. We can't go to any tourist site. But we do fine. We go to restaurants and bookstores. We ride bikes around Manhattan a lot. All you hear is, ``There's . . . '' and then you whiz by. That's all you hear, which is fine.

Q: When you're not on a bike, what do people say?

A: Generally, they go, ``Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God,'' which I don't understand. If it were Michael Jordan, I'd understand it.

Q: How did you both take his being named People magazine's Sexiest Man of the Year?

A: We weren't together at that point. We were about to begin work on Seven. I thought it was funny. He didn't think it was that funny. On the set, you have the chair with your name on it. The prop guys for Seven had one made, which read: ``Brad Pitt, the Sexiest Man Alive.'' And Morgan Freeman was all bitter about it. He said, ``I'm the sexiest man alive!'' Which I agree with.

Q: Last year, when Vanity Fair did its Hollywood issue, you were on the cover with a lot of half-naked actresses. You were the only one wearing a gown. Why?

A: I felt more comfortable. I passed on the lingerie.

Q: Did you find the lingerie the others wore to be objectionable?

A: No, it just wasn't for me. They were not floozy, bimbo actresses. Jennifer Jason Leigh and Patricia Arquette are brilliant. These actresses didn't have to take off their clothes. That's not how they're getting anywhere. So, why not? I just didn't feel comfortable wearing lingerie. I thought it would be a little bit obvious.

Q: So we won't see a lot of Gwyneth Paltrow nude scenes?

A: You're not going to see me doing the sort of typical exploitive kind of things. Ultimately I want to have lots of babies, and I don't want them to go to the video store and be teased on the playground because I simulate fellatio in the movies. It's a terrible thing to do to your children.