On a typically hot summer's morning in Italy, Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow arrives by boat to the island of Lido where the annual Venice Film Festival is held.

Befitting of one of the world's most beautiful cities, this glamorous 39-year-old movie star is wearing a bright orange Prada mini dress and neutral heels. Her sophisticated ensemble accents her glowing tan and blonde hair.

Stepping onto dry land, she hands her flask of green tea to one of the flurry of festival employees, and walks to the photo-call where she poses for the jostling herd of paparazzi. In a matter of minutes, photographs will be splashed throughout websites around the world in evidence that her reigning status as consummate style icon remains firmly entrenched.

Articulate, erudite, and endowed with a quick-witted sense of humour, Paltrow puts those around her at ease. This afternoon she talks about her controversial new movie, Contagion, her life as wife of Coldplay frontman, Chris Martin, and raising their kids: Apple, 7, and Moses, 5. Almost inconceivably, in the midst of the craziness that surrounds her, she retains her sanity (and her figure).

Safely inside the auditorium, the mayhem outside doesn't faze her. "Well, I've been doing it a long time," she smiles. "It's just part of my job."

Her job, of late, has been relegated. "My family comes first these days, and this role in Contagion was great for me. It was a short shoot which meant I didn't have to take the kids out of school. Plus, the chance to work with (director) Steven Soderbergh and to work with Matt (Damon) again, I knew would be a lot of fun."

A small but pivotal role in this pandemic thriller of global proportions, Contagion is already a hit worldwide. Playing Beth Emhoff, an adulterous wife who becomes one of the first in the world to be infected with the lethal virus, and inadvertently carries it back to the US, she jokes that her ill-fated death was not a payback for her character's immoral decisions.

"If death by virus was a punishment for extra-marital affairs there would only be three dudes left in this world right now," she says, dryly. "Beth's not a bad person. We're all human beings, we all do things that other people might judge but nobody has the right to judge what anybody does. If I've learned one thing in my life thus far…."

Paltrow seems to have learned many of life's lessons in her journey as mother and globe-trotting movie star. Some of which she shares on her informative and diverse lifestyle blog, Goop.com. (The title is derived from the initials of her first and last names).

"I always felt like a very, very fortunate person. I was exposed to a lot early and I did things earlier than my friends. I built a house from scratch at 25 years old, I traveled to far, fun places, I was exposed to yoga, macrobiotics, Chinese medicine, and detoxing. My friends would say to me, 'I'm going to Rome. Where should I eat?' So I thought, 'If I'm in a position to ask Kate Moss, 'What's the best vintage clothing store in London?' Why shouldn't you know that too? So, it came about because I thought it would be fun to share this information with people," she says.

Clearly, she enjoys this part of her life. "Very much," she smiles. "I get such great feedback from women on the street, and even men. People used to stop me and say, 'Oh, I liked this movie.' Now people say, 'I love this recipe you posted.' Or, 'Thank you for this recommendation.' I've even got letters from people saying, 'You changed my business.'" She smiles. "It makes me feel so good. It makes me feel really happy."

Her principal source of happiness, of course, comes from her family. Like every parent, her life changed the day her firstborn came into the world. She said last year in Los Angeles while promoting Iron Man 2, "I'll never forget when I saw my daughter for the first time. I felt that she had given me life, it's like I didn't give her life. I understood why I was here. Of course I mean that for both of them, but that moment of having your first child, everything changed so much for me. I feel my biggest successes in life are my two kids."

It's a common view that love and fame don't go together, but obviously the eight-year Paltrow-Martin union has proven otherwise.

"Yes, in a lot of cases that's true, or it seems true. In my case, I think because I was raised by people who were very focused on the family and the importance of family, I saw firsthand that that's where you get real richness in life. Success is great, but it's an illusion. Real life is when your kid is at the table and making a joke about their butt, and you're laughing. That's the best thing about life, that human interaction and connection. So, I think luckily, because of my parents, my priorities are in the right place, and that's how you sustain relationships." She pauses. "You yield good stuff from putting in the hard work."

Endowed with a strong work ethic, Paltrow is artist ambassador of the Save the Children foundation and raises awareness about World Pneumonia Day. She's also on the board of the Robin Hood Foundation that serves to alleviate poverty in New York City.

It seems that Paltrow doesn't do things in half measures. Even her performance on the hit tv show Glee garnered an Emmy award for Outstanding guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Holly Holiday.

"I loved it," she gushes. "It was so much fun. It was a lot of work. I landed in Los Angeles, I went straight to the recording studio, I recorded the songs and I went to learn the choreography. We had an hour to do it." She also performed a Stevie Nicks hit, Landslide. "I was so nervous that day because Stevie was there," she laughs. "I was a bit starstruck." Paltrow is the epitome of class. The face of American high-end fashion brand, Coach, as well as Estee Lauder fragrance, Pleasures, and has also teamed up with Luxe watchmaker, Baume & Mercier.

Needless to say, looking and feeling her best is essential to all aspects of her work. She credits trainer-to-the-stars, Tracy Anderson, with keeping her body in optimum shape.

"I am very committed to my Tracy Anderson Method. I do it five days a week. I drop the kids at school, come home and then I exercise for an hour and a half or an hour or fifteen minutes. There is no fairy dust, there is no trick. You do it and it works," she says, matter-of-factly.

As far as her eating habits are concerned, she says, "I feel like you can't always be on a diet because you have to enjoy your life, otherwise it would be so profoundly boring. But nothing comes for free. I can't eat whatever I want and not exercise and look like this," she says, candidly. "I have to be realistic. If I have something coming up I'll go on a major detox and diet. I also step it up and hit the exercise hard. But life isn't worth living if you can't eat cheese and drink wine. I like to eat my kid's pasta, have some of their ice cream and then go out to dinner and eat some of my own dinner. And then do the extra cardio in the morning because you have to," she says. "But I'm lucky. I have two fantastically delightful children and a very nice husband," she says. "I have a wonderful, blessed life."

Although she's never had to endure pain in real life as a parent, in her movie last year, Country Strong, she played a mother dealing with loss. "Once you have a kid, if somebody tells you about someone losing a child, of course, it's every parent's worst fear. You never want to think of a child suffering."

Clearly, Paltrow's a hands-on mother and her kids are in good stead with their parents. How does she think she'll deal with their teenage years?

"Well, my kids are really good people. They've just come out like that and all I know is that I just don't want to mess them up along the way," she smiles. "I think that if you can get your kids to believe in themselves, that's a big one. I'll always be there for them if they want my advice. I think when you grow up feeling loved you have a big advantage."