Gwyneth Paltrow Says ‘Iron Man’ Co-Star Robert Downey Jr. Is The One Who Can Persuade Her To Break Acting Hiatus

Gwyneth Paltrow has been on an acting hiatus with her last on-camera work being in 2020’s Season 2 of The Politician.

The Oscar-winning actor has been focused on her lifestyle brand Goop but says there’s one person who could convince her to unretire and it’s her Iron Man co-star Robert Downey Jr.

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“It would be very hard for me to do any acting right at the moment, just because of my job,” Paltrow told Entertainment Tonight in an interview. “But, I guess Robert Downey Jr. could probably always get me back.”

She added, “You know, to some degree.”

Paltrow and Downey Jr. became really close during the filming of Marvel’s Iron Man where the former played the character of Pepper Potts, the love interest of Tony Stark. Following the 2008 film, Paltrow would go on to reprise her role in Iron Man 2 in 2010, The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

In 2007, Paltrow told EW that her Iron Man co-star was a major factor for her taking on the role in the superhero film.

“It had nothing to do with the size of the budget. It was like, if I got a call that there’s a six-million-dollar movie, and these are the people, I’d do it,” she told the publication. “I’ve always wanted to work with Robert Downey Jr. He’s a genius, and I had never been asked to do a film with him before. I’m really excited that it’s Iron Man because I’ve never done anything like it. I’m really thrilled.”

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