Outside of recent voice roles on “American Horror Stories” and “She Said,” Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow has not acted on camera in a few years. Her last film was in 2019 courtesy of “Avengers: Endgame,” in which she reprised her fan favorite Marvel role of Pepper Potts, while she also appeared in the Netflix series “The Politician,” which dropped its second season in June 2020.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, Paltrow suggested that she currently has no plans to get back in front of the camera as an actor given all of her business responsibilities with Goop. However, there is one A-list actor she thinks could end her current acting hiatus. That would be Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr.
“Well, it would be very hard for me to do any acting right at the moment, just because of my job,” Paltrow said. “But, I guess Robert Downey Jr. could probably always get me back. You know, to some degree.”
The two actors’ careers became inextricably linked when they landed the roles of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts in 2008’s “Iron Man,” which launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The two would reprise their roles in two “Iron Man” sequels and various other Marvel movies, including the record-breaking “Endgame.” The latter title featured the death of Tony Stark, which is one reason Paltrow has no desire to return to the MCU.
During a Q&A with fans on Instagram, one follower wrote to Paltrow: “I’m asking this every time answer the question why did you stop with Marvel and do you miss [Robert Downey Jr.]?”
“Oh my god, stop yelling at me!” Paltrow humorously responded. “We just stopped doing it because Iron Man died. And, why do you need Pepper Potts without Iron Man? I don’t know. Call up Marvel and yell at them, not me. I’m just sitting here.”
During an interview earlier this year with fellow Marvel alum Scarlett Johansson on “The Goop Podcast,” Paltrow was asked if she is done for good with the MCU. “I think so,” she answered at the time. “I mean, I didn’t die so they can always ask me.”
Should Downey Jr. and Paltrow reunite on screen, it might be in their first non-Marvel movie project.
Although Variety did recently report that Marvel Studios has been thinking about a plan in which Downey Jr.’s Iron Man would return to the screen despite his “Endgame” death.
