NEW YORK – Sex scenes are strange and uncomfortable at the best of times, when it’s two strangers groping and fondling on camera.

It doesn’t get any easier when the staged intimacy takes place between friends who have known each other almost two decades, as is the case with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.

“It makes it weirder. You feel a little bit like brother and sister,” says Hawke, 42. “It’s a strange thing to act with someone. I don’t have to imagine what it was like when she was 23 and to be with her. I remember. We did kiss on the Ferris wheel in Vienna in 1994. We did do that! And a lot of the humor of the movies is built out of our humor, the way we like to tease each other.”

The actors revisit the characters of Jesse and Celine, whom they first played in 1995′s Before Sunrise and reprised in the sequel, 2004′s Before Sunset, in the third installment of the series, Before Midnight, in select cities on Friday. This time, the two are the parents of twin girls, and are dealing with all the realities of a relationship that’s stale and romantic and passionate and acrimonious and ardent all at the same time.

Filming the movie’s pivotal love scene was an out-of-body experience for both actors, says Delpy, 43. “(I’m thinking), ‘Ethan is touching me!’ The good thing is that we love each other. It’s not like, ‘Ugh.’ It’s more like it’s really uncomfortable. We have to disconnect ourselves entirely from who we are.”

Yet when you’re with them, what you feel is an authentic connection.

There’s an ease, an unforced sense of comfort between Hawke and Delpy. He teases her about her foul mouth. She tells him how adorable his youngest child is. She likens her attention span to that of a cat, and he admonishes her to focus and pay attention. When in the midst of a photo shoot the photographer comments that the two seem to genuinely like each other as they banter and tease, retorts Hawke: “You should see us naked.”

In fact, the two bare all emotionally – and Delpy, in one extended scene, physically – in Before Midnight. As with the film’s predecessors, Hawke and Delpy co-wrote the script with director Richard Linklater. And their efforts showcase what a real relationship looks like, full of wrinkles and jealousies and grudges and ill-timed arguments.

“I’m not scared of making my character unlikable, and Ethan is the same,” says Delpy.

Delpy’s Celine is impetuous and at times irrational. Hawke’s Jesse is self-absorbed and pedantic. And yet, together they create on-screen marital magic. Given the ardent, intricate wordplay between the two, it would be easy, but wrong, to simply think they’re playing themselves. They’re not. And it’s a disservice to the intricate script to think that anything that’s said is off the cuff. In fact, every single wanton, mean, loving, conflicted word Celine and Jesse utter is scripted.

Cautions Hawke: “This is not a portrait of me. It’s their dynamic. Every couple has a dynamic.”

The key to their appeal, says Linklater, is that they’re almost like the rest of us.

“They are heightened normal. There’s nothing extraordinary about them. They’re not heroic,” says Linklater. “They are relatable. They don’t feel like they’re that far from yourself. They can put into words what all of us bumble through with in life. They’re hyper-articulate.”

In real life as well. The two admit to being leery of tinkering with the series and creating a third film that wouldn’t be as timeless and loved as the first two. They started throwing around ideas a few years ago, and finally, during an intense 10-week period, sequestered themselves in Greece, where they wrote the script and shot the film in 15 days.

“It’s been one of the great joys of my life to get to know them for 19 years. The people they were then was quite impressive to me. Both were kind of amazing. To see them grow and follow their careers – Ethan paints and writes novels and directs theater, and I see Julie and she’s getting a guitar lesson and eight months later is finishing an album with songs she wrote. They’re such artists,” says Linklater.

So much has changed since the two relative newcomers shot Sunset in 1994. Los Angeles-based Delpy is the mom of Leo, 4, with film score composer Marc Streitenfeld. Hawke, who lives in New York, is married to his second wife, Ryan, and is the father of Indiana, 2, Clementine, 5, Levon, 11, and Maya, 15 (both from his first marriage to Uma Thurman). To both actors, their trilogy is something of an on-screen scrapbook.

“One of my favorite memories of my life is Julie and Rick picking me up from the airport in Austin. It was when the airport was tiny,” says Hawke of shooting the first movie. “It felt like Austin was this remote little town. I walked out and the first thing I said was, ‘Let’s go make a (expletive) movie.’ And then we went and shot pool and Julie was insanely competitive with me. She’s so competitive. It was on.”

They holed up in a motel, and Linklater’s office, and developed the script. “We were younger then, so we had a lot to prove. Julie was 23 and she had already worked with Godard and Volker Schlöndorff. This was an extremely intense young woman and she was not overly impressed with me,” says Hawke.

Not so, says Delpy. “I liked him. I’d seen Reality Bites and thought he was cute. I was not blasé or anything. Maybe my attitude seemed that way.”

What goes through their minds when they see Before Sunset?

“I think how much my son looks like me. Oh my god, he’s my spitting image,” says Delpy. “I also think how miserable I was as a person. Young, suffering, every boyfriend that broke up with me, I was devastated for months and years. I was a mess.”

“What went through my mind is how much the world has changed. That scene of Jesse and Celine in the listening booth and how romantic and old-fashioned that feels now,” says Hawke.

And yes, they’d be open to doing a fourth one, if it made sense. For now, Hawke is busy with theater and plans to spend the summer with his kids, and Delpy just finished a French script. They talk and see each other when they can, but the camaraderie between them is real and, seemingly, enduring, despite the physical distance between them.

“There’s a genuine affection there. It’s legit. They’re two very complex people but the baseline of it all is that they have a real respect and love,” says Linklater. “It’s like a long-term relationship.”

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

NEW YORK — Fresh from a very fashionable few days in her native Manhattan, Gwyneth Paltrow is prepping for a flight across the pond to deal with much more pressing family issues involving her daughter.

“It’s Apple’s birthday weekend. We’re having a disco party in the house. I have to get her food organized. She’s so specific,” Paltrow says with a smile after a full afternoon of interviews.

Like mother, like daughter. Paltrow is nothing if not particular about her attire, her food choices, her workouts, and just about everything else in her seemingly endlessly chic life. It’s what spawned Goop, her newsletter-turned-lifestyle website, and it’s offspring, the Goop city-guide series of apps. And Paltrow, who launched Goop five years ago this October, never saw any of this coming. “I never know where I’m going. I never know what I’m doing. I’m on this weird journey.”

That isn’t the first word that comes to mind when you think of Paltrow, who’s endlessly polished and toned and stylish. But spend a few minutes with her, and what resonates isn’t her beauty — which is dewy and glowing the day after a very late night — but her bawdy, biting sense of humor and her candor. Unlike so many trim celebs, she doesn’t pretend that she comes by her physique through a freakish metabolism or by chasing after her kids. She works. Hard.

“Right now I’m just so (expletive) tired,” she says. “After my Iron Man and cookbook press tour and this, I’m done. I think I’ve answered every conceivable question. Your brain freezes.”

But seriously, how can she look so fresh the day after partying until near-sunrise for the Met Gala? “Are you crazy? I’m like RuPaul! I have so much makeup on. Foundation! Last night, I was literally a transvestite,” she quips.

Paltrow just finished promoting Iron Man 3, the film behemoth of the summer, and her second best-selling cookbook, It’s All Good. The last stop for her, before she heads to London, where she lives with husband Chris Martin and their kids, Apple, 9, and Moses, 7, is talking up the city-guide component of Goop. Right now, the apps cover London, New York and Los Angeles, but next up, she’s launching one for Paris.

(Full disclosure: This reporter independently downloaded the London city guide during a recent trip there, and Paltrow’s recommendations are spot on.)

“I really pound the pavement. But I love it. It’s so much fun. It’s about curation and connection. I did the app for myself because it’s so helpful and it’s so practical. The website I do for other people,” Paltrow says, adding that she loves “the idea that you could share something that could positively impact someone’s life.”

Running Goop takes up most of her non-family time. “Sometimes I go to the office. We have a growing team now. My buyer will come over and go through stuff and ideas and drawings,” she says.

On a typical day, “I wake up with the kids. Breakfast. School run. I have an hour to work. I work out, and then I do Goop until it’s time to pick up the kids. It’s kind of my real main job. I can only do one movie a year. It’s too hard on the family. It’s great to have a few jobs! I work hard to keep it good.”

It’s especially crucial for her because for the most part, Paltrow has put acting on the back burner to focus on her Goop brand. She’s hoping to do a film about Pablo Picasso, if the financing comes together, but otherwise isn’t heading to a soundstage anytime soon.

“I say no to everything pretty much. When I have an interesting part or really interesting people to work with, I love acting. It’s just a lot of time away when the kids are so little. You’re gone. So it’s hard. I’m not sure what I’m going to do next. Something really worth my time.”

She says she’s happiest at home in London, where she cooks something every day for her kids — skewers and vegetarian chili are favorites — and tries to live as quiet a life as possible. But then there’s the other Gwyneth, the one who was just dubbed the world’s most beautiful woman by People magazine.

Her husband, she says, “was really proud. It was very sweet. I got so many e-mails about that. I loved it, because I feel like I’m a mother and I’m a woman. I was very, very honored. It’s a huge title, even though it’s not true. I always see what’s wrong with me. I’ve got crow’s feet, and one boob is sagging more than the other.”

She says she feels prettiest when she’s home and loved and confident. “I have good kids. I’m doing a good job. I’m OK — when I’m not putting pressure on myself or criticizing myself.”

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

You know those stories about Katie Holmes’ and Tom Cruise’s daughter Suri inking a huge deal to design her own clothing line?

As juicy as the reports are, they’re also not true.

We checked with Holmes’ rep to set the record straight and she assures us that the youngster is not a budding designer with her own collection, a la Madonna’s daughter Lourdes.

In other news: the young Cruise was lauded in Vanity Fair magazine’s list of top 10 best dressed celebutots.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Demure ballgowns constitute punk, at least if you’re one of the attendees at Monday night’s Met ball.

Now that, roughly 12 hours later, we’ve had time to process all that red-carpet star-gazing, here are the standout looks from Monday’s gala, which saluted punk’s role in fashion.

Anne Hathaway, who wore a Valentino gown — which she dubbed “the most punk thing he’s ever done — debuted a platinum blond ‘do, courtesy of celebrity colorist Marie Robinson. Her new hue was the talk of Twitter.

“I don’t know that you could tell it by looking at me, but Debbie Harry was (my inspiration),” she told Vogue.com on the red carpet.

Sarah Jessica Parker, who walked away as the sartorial star of the night, wore a Philip Treacy faux-hawk headpiece and specifically requested Nars’ new Tender Night velvet matte lip pencil — a low-key shade that let her updo do the talking.

Say what you want about Miley Cyrus, but she knows to either work it, or stay home. She donned a second-skin mesh Marc Jacobs gown and had celebrity hairstylist Oribe (long J.Lo’s go-to pro) spike out her hair. He dubbed her look “fearless.” Indeed.

As for Debbie Harry, who was name-checked by plenty of wannabe punks on Monday night — the music legend wore Tommy Hilfiger and sat at his table, along with Zooey Deschanel and Nicki Minaj.

The steep Metropolitan Museum of Art staircase isn’t for wimps. Heidi Klum stumbled and had to to be helped up in her ballgown. And Kim Kardashian, wearing a Givenchy floral frock with attached gloves, looked game, but uncomfortable.

And for those looking to nab a little retro-cool glamour, you can’t do any better than the Edie Parker clutches carried by Michelle Dockery and Zooey Deschanel.

See more photos.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Safety pins and studs? That’s the question that was fulminating among New York’s fashion almighty in the days leading up to Monday’s gala benefiting the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The theme this year: PUNK: Chaos to Couture.

The hosts: Anna Wintour, Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy and brooding actress Rooney Mara, who exemplified what the exhibit represents in her breakout role in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Some folks were daring: Sarah Jessica Parker wore a faux-hawk headpiece, Miley Cyrus donned spikes and Madonna rocked thigh highs, pink shoes and a suit jacket. Beyoncé cut quite a figure in second-skin Givenchy. “I’m a bit of a rebel, a bit of a rebel,” she said about her fashion sense.

Mara was gorgeous in a zippered white Givenchy. “I don’t think that fashion-wise I am punk rock. I think it’s attitude, more of a way of being. I don’t think I’m dressed punk,” says Mara.

Mad Men‘s Jessica Paré was accompanied by Jason Wu and was wearing an ensemble by the designer. “We had a few fittings,” says Paré.

She’s looking forward to Megan Draper’s style evolution on the show: “It’s the late ’60s and that’s when all my favorite bands started.”

As usual, the turnout was eye-popping: Gwyneth Paltrow, Julianne Moore, Florence Welch, Elle and Dakota Fanning, Allison Williams, Elizabeth Banks and Emma Roberts. Jennifer Lopez mugged for the cameras in animal-print Michael Kors. Cameron Diaz darted past with her date, Stella McCartney.

Two couples made news: Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn made their public debut, and a very pregnant Kim Kardashian arrived with her unsmiling beau, Kanye West.

Anne Hathaway made good after opting out of wearing her go-to designer at the Oscars. “It’s vintage Valentino from 1992,” she said of her edgy gown.

Kerry Washington wore Vera Wang. “I have purple (highlights) going in to match the dress,” she said. “I’ve had lots of misguided (fashion) moments. Who hasn’t? I had a big hip-hop phase, jerseys and that kind of stuff.”

Kate Beckinsale, in Alberta Ferretti, said her most rebellious moment was getting her ears double- and triple-pierced as a teen without telling her mom. “I hope my daughter doesn’t read this!” says the mom of Lily.

The last to arrive: Madonna. Her top rebellious fashion moment? “It depends on the week!” she retorted.

The Costume Institute exhibit runs from May 9-Aug. 14.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

NEW YORK – Go big, or go home.

Jay Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s mythical self-made millionaire, did nothing halfway, from the sensational parties he threw to the natty attire he wore. And the same goes for the film version of his classic novel, directed by Baz Luhrmann and in theaters on May 10.

The film has been, and continues to be, feted at numerous parties prior to its release, including the opulent window installations at the Fifth Avenue Tiffany store and a luncheon being held at the New York Public Library on Thursday. But Wednesday night, the stars of the movie and its director converged on Lincoln Center to celebrate the 3-D spectacle they created.

The red carpet featured appearances by Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays Gatsby, Tobey Maguire, who stars as his neighbor, Nick Carraway, Carey Mulligan, who glows as Gatsby’s great and doomed love Daisy Buchanan, and Joel Edgerton, who preens as Daisy’s obtuse philandering husband Tom. Executive producer Jay-Z walked by, grinning but not doing any press.

Mulligan was scarlet and sexy in Lanvin, and she was stunned as she took in the scene, which included throngs of women chanting DiCaprio’s name. “I got out of the car and was like, ‘We’re going to the wrong place.’ But it’s perfectly Gatsby, isn’t it? We’re here wearing our diamonds and we have to give them back at the end of the night, so we might as well have a good time,” she says.

DiCaprio called the film “an incredibly exciting undertaking. Baz is always vigilant about the material he takes on.”

He was polished and well-spoken, but didn’t take any Gatsbyisms home with him. “I didn’t say ‘old sport’ when I went home, no, but I said it enough on set to the point where I could never say it again,” he says.

As for Maguire, he was accompanied by his spouse, Jennifer Meyer Maguire. Their household is big on reading. “The kids like different things. One of the kids books I love is The Giving Tree. It always gets me,” he says.

For Fisher, who has two daughters at home, it was “mommy night out. The most daunting part of doing this movie? You don’t want to get fired. You have to stay as true to the story as you can.”

Florence Welch is featured on the soundtrack. She was in Miu Miu and is in town for Monday’s Met Ball. “Do you ever get used to this? Some people just swan on,” she says.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

There are openings at the judges’ table on American Idol.

Would Jennifer Lopez, who left the FOX show, ever go back to the singing competition, which has suffered from sinking ratings and on-air bickering?

“I don’t know. That’s the question of the moment. I loved doing the show. I’ve said that over and over. If it came down to it and things were right and it worked out right — we have a lot going on right now,” says Lopez, 43. “For an offer to come in and for me to consider it, I would have to sit down and look at my next year.”

Lopez was just named the chief creative officer of Latino-centric nuvoTV, which held its upfront presentation on Wednesday in New York. “I’m just in the moment of what I’m doing right now,” says Lopez, of her plans for the future. “I don’t have any more time!”

Randy Jackson has already announced he’s leaving the show and reportedly, so is Nicki Minaj.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.