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Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow are among the many celebrity friendships in Hollywood. They’ve known each other for years and thanks to working together in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Paltrow and Susan Downey, the Iron Man actor’s wife, have become close. Keep reading to learn about the actors’ first meeting and what Downey Jr. has to say about his wife’s friendship with Paltrow.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. meet

At a film festival in the 1990s is where Paltrow and Downey Jr. first crossed paths. The duo recalled their meeting in a 2013 interview with the Associated Press, according to Oregon Live. After they met, Downey remembers a mutual friend telling him Paltrow had called asking about him. 

“She was like, ‘What is wrong with him? Who is this guy?’” Downey Jr. said. “She called him up asking, like, if it was going to be essentially bad for her reputation to be hanging out with me.”

Paltrow insisted that’s not how the conversation went. Downey Jr. explained he’d been “wild” back then. In those days the Doolittle actor made headlines for his drug use. 

“He was really wild, and I was very naive,” Paltrow said. “I immediately took a shine to him. … Then he went off the radar for a little while.”

As Downey Jr. described it, Paltrow “was out there banging out one hit after the next, and I was locked in a bathroom somewhere. So be it. Life is beautiful.”

Stopped by police for speeding in 1996, Downey Jr. got arrested for possession of heroin, cocaine, and a gun. In 1999, he was sentenced to three years in prison after violating his probation. But then came along the MCU and the role that would change his status in Hollywood.

They play love interests in ‘Iron Man’ movies

When Iron Man hit theaters in 2008, Downey Jr. played billionaire inventor Tony Stark aka Iron Man. By his side through it all? His trusty personal assistant and love interest, Pepper Potts, played by Paltrow. 

Iron Man kicked off what would become one of the biggest and most profitable movie franchises in history. Throughout the movies that culminated in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame Downey Jr. and Paltrow’s on-screen romance remained. Today, even though their time in the MCU seems to have come to an end, Paltrow and Downey Jr. are still close friends. And their characters’ relationship is as popular as ever among fans. 

Gwyneth Paltrow and Susan Downey ‘keep our doors open to each other,’ Robert Downey Jr. says 

After years of Paltrow and Downey working together in the MCU, a friendship blossomed between the Goop founder and Susan Downey. According to the Sherlock Holmes actor, it’s his wife and Paltrow who make sure their families see each other despite their busy schedules. 

Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, and Susan Downey attend the premiere of 'Iron Man 2'
Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, and Susan Downey attend the premiere of Iron Man 2 | Manfred Segerer/ullstein bild via Getty Images

“They’re both, like, type-A, organized, and so Susan and Gwyneth organize our ability to stay close and keep our doors open to each other and be current with each other’s lives and each other’s kids,” he said.

Paltrow is a mother of two. She and her ex-husband Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, are parents to a daughter, Apple, and a son, Moses. Downey Jr. and his wife have two kids of their own; a daughter named Avri and a son named Exton. Plus, Downey Jr. has a son, Indio, from his first marriage to Deborah Falconer. 

Coordinating schedules to see each other is “fun” for Paltrow. “We make an effort, because life can just get so busy and complicated, and we really go out of our way to carve out little pockets of time.”

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