Gwyneth Paltrow says marriage not 'all rosy'

Gwyneth Paltrow presumably has since figured out how to get to get an advance copy of the new Coldplay album.

But that doesn't mean she and rocker hubby Chris Martin don't have their ups and downs, just like your average, non-music-and-acting-royalty couple.

"Sometimes it's hard being with someone for a long time," Paltrow admits in the September issue of Elle, out Aug. 16. "We go through periods that aren't all rosy. I always say, life is long and you never know what's going to happen."

Hence the contingency plan if they split up!

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MORE: Check out Gwyneth's new Coach ad

"If, God forbid, we were ever not to be together, I respect him so much as the father of my children," the Oscar winner continued. "Like, I made such a good choice. He's such a good dad. You can never be relaxed or smug and think, 'I've got this thing.' That's also part of it — keeping yourself on your toes. I'm not going to take this for granted."

Step one: Not going to her hubby for help with her second career (or third, if you count running the GOOP website as No. 2).

The Coldplay frontman is "a musical genius," Paltrow said. "It's like living with Picasso, and being like, 'Should I make a little something-something?'"

"He makes music for his fans, and he doesn't want people to conjure a lame famous couple when they're getting into his music. I get it," she added.

WATCH: Gwyneth gets comfy on "Chelsea Lately"

But since Paltrow's attempts at making "a little something-something," including her performances at the CMAs and the Grammys and her guest arc on Glee, have been so well-received, what's next on that front?

"I can do short jobs," she said of her decision to do Glee. "If I was still starring in three movies every year, there's no way that I'd be the person my kids want when they fall down."

But her new BFFs, Beyonce and Jay-Z, think she should march right into the studio and make an album already.

"They think that I should just go do it by myself," the Country Strong star said, "that I should go...in a studio and see what happens. And if it's good, do it. And if it's not, don't. So that's probably what I'll do."

In the meantime, fans and chic-lifestyle devotees in general can share the good life with her on GOOP.com, where she dispels need-to-know advice such as where to get the best bikini wax in Paris.

MORE: Courteney Cox Is Getting Her Goop On!

"It's so much easier to sit home and not exercise and criticize other people," Paltrow said of her lifestyle website. "What I love is inspiring people. People come up to me and say, 'I want to have two kids and wear a bathing suit and not feel terrible about myself. I see how hard you work and it makes me feel like I can do that too.'"

Though it was months ago, apparently Paltrow's breath-of-fresh-air interview on "Chelsea Lately" was still on Elle's mind.

"Doing Chelsea Handler is like doing Howard Stern: You've gotta rise to the occasion," Paltrow said. "It's good to shock people who think of me as the prim Gwyneth Paltrow."

"If you speak to my friends who've known me since I was 4, they'll say, 'That is her.' They always said to me, 'You're the dirtiest person in the world, and so funny. Show the world that side of you.'"

And we're glad she did.