Back in August, Lara Lundstrom Clarke went public with her Sliding Doors–esque tale of how jaywalking in front of Gwyneth Paltrow’s Mercedes SUV on Seventh Avenue may have saved her life on 9/11. (She missed her train to the World Trade Center as a result.) At the Venice premiere of Contagion, Gwyneth — who says she learned of the coincidence by way of a letter from Clarke — offered a Rashomon-style take on the tale. It begins with her return from yoga class, which had taken place “very early” (obviously):
“I was on the way home and it was the morning of September 11 — not that I knew at the time what that meant — and a girl was jaywalking across the street and we kind of both stopped at the same time and waited a really long time,” said Paltrow.
She said she and the woman did “this stop-start thing” for a time and began to laugh before the woman finally went on her way.
“It was an extraordinary story and all I could think about is all of the people who had experiences like that that day, but aren’t able to reach out because it wasn’t a recognizable person,” said the 38-year-old Oscar winner.
Oh, Gwyneth: She tries.
Paltrow learns of 9/11 ‘Sliding Doors’ moment [NYP]
Oh, Gwyneth: She tries.
