Paltrow's lesbian sex scenes heat up the gossip mill

The long-awaited film adaptation of Jeanette Winterson's The Passion with Gwyneth Paltrow as the web-footed lesbian heroine is apparently so steamy in script form that it's building buzz well before it has started filming. MSNBC reports that the script calls for "explicit sex scenes between the two women": Paltrow's character and the as-yet-uncast role of her lover, a French countess. Now giving interviews to promote the film Possession--with its own lesbian love story, not involving Paltrow--the actress declined to go into detail when asked about The Passion, saying only, "I'd do anything that makes a story more interesting--and this one is very interesting indeed. The love scene is great, and it will be quite a challenge." When a reporter asked whether she was prepared to be a lesbian icon, the actress replied, "I love the thought--why not?"