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Goop founder, Gwyneth Paltrow and Sherlock Holmes star, Robert Downey Jr. have worked together several times in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
With their great onscreen chemistry, fans can't help but wonder about the real nature of their relationship. Here's everything the Iron Man co-stars have said about each other.
Gwyneth Paltrow & Robert Downey Jr. Are 'Lifelong' Friends
Speaking to People in 10 in 2021, Paltrow said that she developed a "lifelong" friendship with Downey Jr through the years that they worked together.
"My relationship with Robert Downey Jr., which was obviously forged through all the Iron Man and Avengers movies," she explained. "I feel like I was able to find an incredible, lifelong, inspirational partner and friend." The duo actually first met in the '90s during a film festival. Back then, Paltrow wasn't so thrilled about hanging out with the Dolittle star.
Downey revealed that a mutual friend had called him after he met The Shallow Hal actress. "She was like, 'What is wrong with him? Who is this guy?'" the actor recalled during a 2013 interview with the Associated Press. "She called him up asking, like, if it was going to be essentially bad for her reputation to be hanging out with me." However, Paltrow said it wasn't exactly how the conversation went. She was just worried about his "wild" reputation at the time.
The Sympathizer star was struggling with drug addiction and was even convicted for possession of heroin, cocaine, and an unloaded .357 Magnum handgun in 1996. In 1999, he was sentenced to three years in prison after violating his probation. "He was really wild, and I was very naive," Paltrow recounted. "I immediately took a shine to him. … Then he went off the radar for a little while." Downey added that she "was out there banging out one hit after the next, and I was locked in a bathroom somewhere. So be it. Life is beautiful."
Gwyneth Paltrow Is Robert Downey Jr.'s Wife-Approved 'Free Pass'
In 2016, Downey told Howard Stern that his wife Susan Downey gave him a "free pass" when it comes to Paltrow. "My free pass is, because her and Susan are such good friends, is Paltrow," said the actor.
"I gotta get her back in [Marvel] movies so I can make out with her on screen again!" When the host asked if the actor's wife ever got jealous of his onscreen romance with his Avengers co-star, Downey joked, "She could care less!" However, he clarified that "free pass" isn't the same as "hall pass" at all, and that it's just limited to on-cam kisses.
"Your wife is saying you have a free pass to be with Gwyneth Paltrow?" Stern asked, to which Downey replied, "No, I mean, if we're rolling on a take!" When asked if he ever checked on his exes on Facebook, the actor said, "I don't. I am very happily married."
The actor first met his wife, then-Susan Levin back in 2003 on the set of Gothika. It was her full-credit job as a producer. But since 1999, she'd already been working as the vice president of production at Silver Pictures.
When asked about meeting Downey for the first time, she said, "The main thing I remember about meeting him was thinking how strange he was."
Fast forward to November 2003, the actor got down on one knee, the night before the producer's 30th birthday. They tied the knot in August 2005 and welcomed their first son, Exton Elias Downey, seven years later. In 2014, they welcomed their daughter, Avri Roel. Levin is also a stepmother to Downey's first son from his first marriage, Indio Falconer Downey, 28.
Gwyneth Paltrow Said Kissing Robert Downey Jr. Is 'Like Kissing My Brother'
In an episode of The Goop Podcast, Paltrow opened up about her awkward kissing scenes with Downey. "With Robert, when I kissed him and I was like, 'You've got to be kidding me. This is literally like kissing my [brother],'" she told her guest, Kate Hudson.
Back in 2010, RDJ also admitted that those were one of the weirdest moments in their friendship.
"She said… I didn't know what I was doing, like, 'It didn't feel good,'" the actor said of their first onscreen kiss. "And I said, 'You know what? First of all, we're all friends, so what would be creepy is if I was coming off all sexy to you while we were shooting – which by the way, I've done that in movies and it creeps them out! So why would I creep you out?'"
But everything turned out fine. These days, Paltrow considers Downey as "one of my best friends."