When Gwyneth Paltrow signed up for the first Iron Man film she placed her trust in the considerable talents of director Jon Favreau because, as she points out, while she was making it she really had no idea how it would turn out - just a hunch that the director was about to deliver something special.
The chance to work opposite Robert Downey Jr., who plays playboy billionaire Tony Stark/ Iron Man, was also a huge draw. “Robert and I have a very good rhythm together,” she notes. But it was, essentially, a leap of faith that paid off spectacularly.
“I committed to it without ever reading anything, there wasn’t really a script at that point,” she says. “It was just Jon explaining the character to me, explaining how the relationships were going to be, and kind of asking for that trust, that leap of faith.
“I was really happy and surprised when I saw the first film. Because I didn’t even know the plot, even when we were doing it I couldn’t really piece it together and I didn’t understand the whole picture.
“And so when I saw the finished film I was happily surprised with how it all turned out. The reason that I decided to do the first movie is because I always wanted to work with Robert and I love Jon, who I’d known for a long time.
“And both Jon and Robert were really encouraging and they said it would be fun. And I’m so glad I did it because it was a great experience and a great movie.”
Revealing Stark as Iron Man marked the movie out to be very different from others in the same comic book genre, says Paltrow. “I do think it was a very fresh thing to do,” she says.
“Revealing that Tony Stark is Iron Man at the end of the first film and not doing the whole Batman secret identity thing was a very fresh take and I think it allows for a whole world of possibilities that don’t normally exist in this kind of movie.
“Normally the hero’s identity is hidden and now we can do a whole host of things that you normally don’t get to see.”
Indeed, Favreau’s blend of wit and stunning action sequences, his crafting of the CGI with live action and most of all, his passion for developing strong characters, are all hallmarks of the first film that have been incorporated into – and improved on – in the second.
Take, for instance, Stark’s relationship with his trusted aide, Pepper Potts. In the first film she was his assistant and the person who knew him best in the entire world. Behind that brash, arrogant exterior, Pepper knew that there was a man struggling to do the right thing, but rarely succeeding. She could see the good in Stark where others couldn’t.
“I think part of the appeal of Tony Stark is that he is damaged and he is a complicated figure,” says Paltrow. “I think he represents the dark side in all of us and that hope that we all overcome our own demons – he’s sort of the personification of that. And it’s essential that we show that he has these demons and he is trying to overcome them.”
Along with Tony and Pepper’s professional relationship there’s clearly a mutual attraction that plays out with some flirtatious banter and that’s expanded on in the new movie.
“When we start Iron Man 2 Pepper and Tony are very much in the same vibe,” she says. “There’s that banter and they’ve got and they have great chemistry. And then as the movie progresses, Pepper is given more responsibility and she’s promoted and it’s nice to see her sort of grow up in that way. I think it really suits her, the job fits her really well.”
“Like Pepper, you know, she is the voice of reason. She’s very grounded – a good girl, a very grounded person. I think the first movie really defined the whole world that these characters inhabit – it has its own pizzazz, it’s own kind of humour.
“But I don’t think it would work as well if Tony was fighting supernatural villains. It is based in a kind of reality – the humour, the action – and I think that’s right and it works.”
Paltrow was delighted that writer Justin Theroux joined the closed knit creative team behind Iron Man but part of the fun of acting on the films is that Favreau allows, and indeed encourages, his cast to improvise if they feel the need, she says, which makes the process challenging and fun.
“Justin’s a great writer and he did some great stuff. He’s a really, really talented artist. But then, we still do our improve thing and we change it up just because that’s how Robert and I like to work and that’s how we like to keep things fresh and super naturalistic.”
Iron Man told the origin story and now Iron Man 2 is building on that success, she says, and turning up on set felt like going home and she slipped back into the character easily.
“It was great,” she says of the experience of working on the new film. “Because we had the whole backbone of the first movie – we knew who we were already, there was less of a discovery process.
“When you turn up for the first day on a film it’s usually like ‘oh my gosh, what am I doing? How is this going to work out?’ But this was like putting on a pair of old shoes. It was like ‘I know how to do this girl…’’”
The new acting talent joining the cast includes Scarlett Johansson as Natalie Rushman, a demure young woman who takes over Pepper’s old job as Tony’s assistant when she is promoted to CEO of Stark Industries. Later in the story, Natalie reveals herself to be The Black Widow.
“It was great with Scarlett there because it just adds a whole new layer especially in terms of Tony and Pepper,” says Paltrow. “There’s always a reason why they never quite get together and then in walks this young, gorgeous bombshell and it really throws Pepper off her course.
“It’s a really fun thing to play and it’s been great having Scarlett there because she’s a really great actress.”
The other newcomers include Sam Rockwell who plays Justin Hammer, a business rival who is out to steal Tony Stark’s crown, and Don Cheadle as Col. James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes.
“The thing about Sam Rockwell is that he is a really, really good actor. He’s in the same universe as Robert in terms of skill and talent. So to have somebody playing his foil in that way is perfect. He’s funny, he’s really good and he adds a whole new twist.
“And Don Cheadle is just heaven on earth. He’s so brilliant and he’s such a calm, grounding person to be around. He’s so good, it’s great that he’s part of this.”
Paltrow, just like the other key characters, was faced with the challenge of working with green screen for Iron Man 2. She likens it to working in the theatre where you just have to use the power of your imagination a little more.
“Jon is still into making everything as real as possible and using live action whenever possible but there are green screen moments because he is taking it to the next level,” she says. “It’s kind of like when you’re in that theatre space when you do green screen and conjure up the world for yourself a little bit.”
It does mean, of course, that watching the finished Iron Man 2, with all the CGI shots in, will have an element of surprise for Paltrow – just like it was for the original film.
“Yes, once again there’s so much that I won’t know until I see it,” she says. “Because when we were on set it was changing shape all of the time. And there will be all of the effects so by the time I get to see it I’m sure I’ll be completely blown away by what Jon and his team have put together.”