Is She the New Gwyneth Paltrow?

Blake Lively has been pretty busy since Gossip Girl ended. The most recent project she's undertaken is the lifestyle website Lively plans to launch, which has gained her a lot of comparisons to Gwyneth Paltrow. Although the infamous Goop uses her website for some pretty controversial blog posts, like that time she said water had feelings and that time she compared reading Internet comments to being in an active war zone, Lively doesn't mind the comparison. In fact, according to her Vogue cover interview, she even invites it.

"People like to gossip," said Lively. "They bond over it. They don’t bond over complimenting famous people. I’m always the first person to defend Gwyneth Paltrow. Or any woman in a position of power, like Martha Stewart or Oprah, who gets burned. Because they have paved the path for so many other women who are doing something they believe in."

It's great to see Lively sticking up for other famous females, since it happens all too often that women are pitted against each other in the media and in the industry. However, if she's going to be the next Gwyneth Paltrow then she's already halfway there while still having a long way to go. Lively and Paltrow have a lot in common already, but since Paltrow has about fifteen years on Lively in age then there are a few life experiences she has that Lively has yet to have.

SAME: They both have lifestyle websites.

The similarity that started it all is the fact that Paltrow has GOOP and Lively is about to launch Preserve. Despite the fact that it would be a perfect opportunity to make the world's best Gossip Girl reference, Lively seems to be genuinely committed to sharing items for purchase and videos that will only occasionally feature Lively. Paltrow's website more or less does the same, but with bonus blogging.

DIFFERENT: Blake Lively's website is more accessible.

According to Lively, one of the main differences between her website and Paltrow's is that the items she has available for sale there will be a lot more affordable. After all, not everyone can afford to shop like Goop and Lively can, and Lively's site will be about "real life". A real life in which, presumably, water doesn't have feelings.

SAME: They both got married after dating someone for a year.

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds began dating in 2011, after Reynolds filed from divorce from then-wife Scarlett Johansson and Lively broke up with then-boyfriend Penn Badgley. Reynolds and Lively were married by 2012. Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin met in 2002 and got married by 2003.

DIFFERENT: Blake Lively is still married.

However, in 2014, Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin split up, citing "conscious uncoupling" as the reason and giving the world their favorite phrase to mock. Although they've done very little but act like they're still married since, there's been no sign that they plan to get back together any time soon. Hopefully, there's no divorce in Lively and Reynolds' future. Her Vogue interview certainly seems to assure us all that Ryan Reynolds is her "everything".

SAME: They're both film and television actresses.

Blake Lively performed in such movies as The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Accepted, but it wasn't until her role as Serena van der Woodsen in the Gossip Girl television show that she really became a huge star. Since then, she's returned almost exclusively to movies. Gwyneth Paltrow rose to stardom in the movies thanks to Emma and, especially, Shakespeare in Love, but she's also appeared on a popular teen show: Glee.

DIFFERENT: Gwyneth Paltrow is a better actress.

In Lively's defense, Paltrow has been in the game a lot longer than she has and has had a lot more roles to show off her versatility as an actress. However, objectively speaking, Paltrow's movies have done better at the box office than Lively's has, whether you argue that Paltrow wasn't the sole reason for that or not. In addition, Paltrow is an Academy Award winner while Lively only has that on her to-do list.

SAME: They're both super into food.

Lively and Paltrow are both women who love to live in the kitchen for the purpose of putting a great meal together. Paltrow has written and co-written numerous books of recipes and has talked at length about how much she loves to cook. Lively has featured on the Martha Stewart Show, attended a workshop at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, and filmed a cooking segment for Vogue. Passion, they both have it.

DIFFERENT: Gwyneth Paltrow cooks some weird stuff.

Paltrow is pretty famous at this point for her weird dietary habits. While Lively is baking cakes and creating cupcakes, Paltrow is giving people bizarre eating tips to help them live a presumably healthier lifestyle. At this point, I would say that people would more likely want to be at Lively's dinner table than at Paltrow's, but there's still time for Lively to try out all kinds of different diets. If she's going to be the new Gwyneth Paltrow, then it's a given that she's going to have to start saying things that are a little (or a lot) off-beat from now on.

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