Gwyneth Paltrow talks to her late father's wedding ring.

The 39-year-old actress feels she connects with Bruce Paltrow - who died of throat cancer in 2002 aged just 58 - through his ring which she wears around her neck.

She explained: ''I always hold on to it. I ask it questions; I feel like it keeps me safe.

''[I sense] the energy of his soul. I don't think that evaporates. I feel my dad, I still feel his love, and I still love him.''

The famously health-conscious 'Sliding Doors' star met husband Chris Martin just three months after her father's death and believes his passing changed her life in many ways.

She told Harper's Bazaar: ''All I've learned about nutrition and health came from his cancer. I'll probably have a long and healthy life because he didn't.

''I would do anything to have him back, but half the reason that my life is good, has real, true value, is that he died. I would obviously rather have him alive, but he gave me so much in his death.

''I don't go back and say I wish he had done this differently, I wish he hadn't smoked, because the fact is that he did and he died. As much grief and pain and trauma and heartache are caused, there was an equal amount of positivity that came out of his death.''