Paltrow Not Surprised at J.Lo-Affleck Drama

Oct. 8 -- Gwyneth Paltrow says she wasn't surprised to see her ex-boyfriend Ben Affleck's planned wedding to Jennifer Lopez be put on hold last month.

"Ben makes life tough for himself," Paltrow told ABCNEWS' Diane Sawyer in an exclusive interview airing in full on Primetime Thursday. "He's got a lot of complication, and you know, he really is a great guy. So I hope he sorts himself out."

Paltrow dated Affleck on and off for two years, but says she never expected to end up with him. "I just think we have a very different sort of value system," she said.

Nowadays, the blonde-tressed actress is dating Coldplay singer Chris Martin. She broke up with Affleck for good in October 2000, and says she no longer communicates with him.

An Enduring Grace

Paltrow is back in her hometown of New York after spending some time abroad. It's a busy time for the 31-year-old star, who has taken a challenging new role in the movie Sylvia, about the life of American poet and novelist Sylvia Plath. She is also coping with the loss of her father, producer-director Bruce Paltrow, who passed away last year.

From her early stardom in Emma (1996), to her Oscar-winning role in Shakespeare in Love (1998) and her singing debut in Duets (2000), Paltrow has managed to maintain a certain grace while living her adult life in front of the cameras. The scrutiny was ongoing through the breakup of her engagement with Brad Pitt and then, those two years with Affleck.

While they were dating, Affleck told Good Morning America that he believed Paltrow's perfect man would be someone like her dad. She said that his perfect woman would be "any sort of stripper at Scores. Anyone that serves cold beer in a bikini."