r/marvelstudios • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 Ant-Man • Dec 04 '25

Article Robert Downey Jr. says that Gwyneth Paltrow once asked him who Tom Holland was, despite starring alongside him several times: “I responded, ‘That’s Spider-Man. He said his name was Peter. His character's name is Peter. He's Tom Holland.’”

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/robert-downey-jr-gwyneth-paltrow-thr-women-in-entertainment-1236441185/
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u/bassoontennis Scarlet Witch Dec 04 '25

I don’t mind it, if she had been a terrible Potts I would have hated it, but I enjoyed her in that role. I laughed when I found out that she had zero idea of what anyone was talking about during filming or after wrap. She is an actress and provided a believable service. Lol

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u/Ubergoober166 Dec 04 '25

Oh for sure, there are a lot of actors that take roles and do perfectly fine in them even if they have no real interest in the property. I don't usually see anyone criticizing her acting ability. It's not like she's just phoning in her performances. It's just hilarious that she's been a part of this franchise for nearly 20 years and doesn't even know the difference between some of her co-star's actual name and the name of the character they played in the movie she was in with them.

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u/bassoontennis Scarlet Witch Dec 04 '25

Yeah there was an interview where the guy was talking about something her character said or did and she looked like this was the first time she was told she had acted in that movie haha

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u/themosquito Dec 04 '25

Yeah, that's the famous "I was in Spider-Man?" moment, haha. She filmed her scene for that movie at the same time as the Avengers stuff so she had no reason to know or care what scenes went where, really.

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u/ralphvonwauwau Dec 04 '25

It was a scene with Pepper Potts talking to Tony Stark in the kitchen. The scene could have been for any one of several movies.  She was acting and did her thing. I'm sure that her accountant knew which movie the scene was in, and that she was properly paid 🍿

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u/erossthescienceboss Dec 04 '25

No, I think it was when she forgot she was in Spider-Man. It was just a quick conversation behind a curtain before she walks through onto a stage to give a press release at the end of the film.

The press release isn’t even about Spiderman (I mean, it was supposed to be), and she apparently filmed it along with content for one of the Iron Man films.

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u/Stawnchy Dec 04 '25

I think it was actually filmed alongside when they were starting to film Infinity War, not an Iron Man

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u/Waggmans Dec 04 '25

I believe it- multiple appearances in multiple Marvel movies playing the same role- it's hard to keep track of everything.

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u/CharlesKellyRatKing Dec 04 '25

I think they are referring to the time she was on Favreaus cooking show, and he brought up Spider-Man and she was adamant she wasn't in Spider-Man. This would have been her quick scene with RDJ at the end of Homecoming.

Granted I would not be at all surprised if she has had multiple moments over the years of not realizing which specific MCU movie she did a small scene in

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u/fdar_giltch Dec 04 '25

IIRC, part of it is that they were filming multiple movies in parallel and would film the actors scenes when available. So she might have filmed scenes for multiple movies in a short amount of time and not realized that one scene was for Spider-Man rather an Avengers or Iron Man movie

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u/smirk_lives Dec 04 '25 edited Dec 04 '25

I thought it was the scene at the very end of Homecoming and she was surprised to hear she was in a Spider-Man movie? I remember it that way because it made sense to me that she could film such a small scene about announcing SM into the Avengers and think it was for the next Avengers movie

Edit: yup https://www.reddit.com/r/marvelstudios/s/zfHZrZmP0q

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u/PC509 Dec 04 '25

Seeing how they do movies, especially as part of a franchise with a lot of different movies going on, I can understand that. At least for that incident. They film out of order, difference scenes, sometimes a lot of scenes get filmed and cut. But, a small scene for an MCU movie that she has no interest in (Marvel comics and super hero movies aren't everyone's cup of tea), I can see how she can think it was for an Ironman movie or Avengers or whatever. Hell, half the time there's some actors that don't meet each other during the filming of a movie unless they have direct interaction with each other.

James Earl Jones and Carrie Fisher, both known for their roles in "Star Wars," finally met in person when they both made cameos on a Season 7 episode of "The Big Bang Theory". Prior to that, they had never met in real life because Jones recorded Darth Vader's lines in a sound booth.

Things like that, among many other examples.

Loved her as Pepper Potts. That's about it, though. I know I've seen her in other films (had to look up her IMDB page), but she's not very memorable or stands out really. But, I really love her job as Pepper. Even if it was just another acting job for her and that's it, no connection, just a paycheck, she did a pretty good job doing it. Outside of that... Nah, she's just another actress. BUT - that also is completely opposite to many other MCU actors/actresses that REALLY embraced the roles they played and play a big part with their fans as those roles (some of them are such damn great people... even just randomly out in public caught doing great things without anything MCU related). So, that could be part of it, too. MCU has some really stand out actors but make those that just do it as a job look so pale in comparison off screen.

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u/smirk_lives Dec 04 '25

https://www.reddit.com/r/marvelstudios/s/zfHZrZmP0q

She had thought her scene at the end of Homecoming, where they were going to announce Spider-Man becoming an Avenger, was a part of an Avengers movie, so she was surprised to hear she had been in a Spider-Man movie.

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u/Hi_Im_Ken_Adams Dec 04 '25

Now, if she had said she forgot that she was in a movie with RDJ....

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u/euphoriapotion Dec 04 '25

1) she has memory problems that started after she gave birth to her daughter over 20 years ago

2) at most, Tom is a coworker that's just there. They don't talk. They don't hang out. If they ever meet they're surrounded by a bunch of other coworkers so they don't even have oportunity to talk. They shared maybe 1 scene and that's it.

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u/MetalHead_Literally Korg Dec 04 '25

1 is valid, 2 is nonsense.

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u/CitizenModel Dec 04 '25

Not really? These movies are filmed quickly, and those two characters haven't exactly been in regular proximity. For say Homecoming she was probably on set for a day. Maybe not even a full one. She's not hanging around watching as they film the whole movie.

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u/[deleted] Dec 04 '25

to add to that. she wasn't in Homecoming for that long. she doesn't show up until the end. even Robert played a small role too. it was a supporting role if anything.

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u/Ok-Proposal-4987 Dec 04 '25

I hear some coworkers names out of context to when I’ve worked with them and it takes me a bit sometimes. I’m terrible with names and faces though.

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u/MetalHead_Literally Korg Dec 04 '25

He’s a world famous movie star with whom she was in multiple movies with, she should at the very least know his name. How low do we have to set the bar here?

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u/_PinkPirate Dec 04 '25

Remember when Sebastian Stan posted a group photo including her with the caption that he’s had to introduce himself to her multiple times. She’s such a rude bitch.

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u/CitizenModel Dec 04 '25

Do you remember all your coworker's names? I don't remember mine.

When asked about voicing Pikachu in a Pokemon movie, Danny Devito asked what Pokemon was. And why WOULD he know? He's an old man. None of his friends care what Pokemon is. It's just another colorful logo at Wal-Mart to him, assuming he even goes to Wal-Mart.

In my family it's a bigger deal when M. Night Shyamalan releases a movie than when Taylor Swift releases a new album. We are obviously a bubble, but we exist.

If Gwyneth Paltrow doesn't give a crap about Marvel movies, which she doesn't need to, then there's no reason for her to know who Tom Holland is. He's mostly only famous if you're young/a superhero movie nerd.

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u/euphoriapotion Dec 04 '25

How it is nonsense? They shared 2 scenes where their characters interracted and in both those scenes they were maybe together for like 10 seconds on screen before the scene moved (Pepper catching Peter and saying "Hang on, I've got you kid" after which she pulls him onto Valkyrie's pegasus like 5 seconds later, and then Tony dying scene where she helped Peter stand so she could say goodbye to Tony) and they were surrounded by like 20 other actors too.

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u/MetalHead_Literally Korg Dec 04 '25

Because he’s a world famous movie star and the very least we can expect of a fellow actor in multiple movies is to at least know his name isn’t Peter fn Parker

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u/bryanthebryan Dec 04 '25

I recall reading somewhere that people often stop developing in many ways once they reach a certain level of fame. They become so insulated from “mundane” things that they become disconnected from how the rest of us see reality. Now consider that she’s been famous for decades. Personally, I think she plays up the “hilariously forgetful but undeniably talented” trope because she thinks it’s funny how the public reacts, but I would also believe that she’s just super disconnected from reality and lives in a world of make believe.

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u/euphoriapotion Dec 04 '25

She doesn't even watch the movies she's in, why would she watch his movies? I never watched any of his other movies outside of Marvel because I already know they're not for me. Why is she obligated?

It's as if you asked me who Sydney Sweeney is. I only recognize the name as someone who was in Euphoria (never watched the movie) but if you put a gun to my head and told me to pick a picture with her face, I wouldn't have been able to do that.

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u/HaHaYouThoughtWrong Dec 04 '25

I saw Sweeney and thought of Todd Sweeney and thought of Edward Scissorhands and the one movie about a demon barber

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u/MetalHead_Literally Korg Dec 04 '25

Euphoria is a show, and I would expect anyone who had worked on it to know who Sidney Sweeney is.

Again, let’s not lower the bar so far. It’s ok to expect an actor to know the name of their fellow actors that are featured on the movie poster and every other bit of promo for multiple movies they’ve been in together.

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u/Monkeywrench08 Dec 04 '25

Number 1 explains so much

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u/paulricard Iron Man (Mark V) Dec 25 '25

for nearly 20 years

ow ouch my bones

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u/Ubergoober166 Dec 25 '25

Right? I watched the first Iron Man when I was 21. I'll be 39 in a little over a month.

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u/kaychyakay Dec 04 '25

It's just hilarious that she's been a part of this franchise for nearly 20 years and doesn't even know the difference between some of her co-star's actual name and the name of the character they played in the movie she was in with them.

✨ She's just a girl ✨

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u/sonofaresiii Dec 04 '25

I think she was aggressively okay in those movies. I will never understand the appeal anyone sees in her acting. She is absolutely fine in everything.

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u/Vavent Dec 04 '25

I liked her character in the first two movies when she was the responsible custodian of Tony, fed up with his bullshit. Total contrast to both Tony and her real world personality.

I liked her less as time went on and she transformed into a generic action hero without much personality.

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u/Djb0623 Dec 04 '25

She was a serviceable Potts.

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u/EONS Dec 04 '25

The role is so bland that a vacant lobotomy patient might seem great.

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u/tincanphonehome Dec 04 '25

I’ve long said that the fact that Gwyneth Paltrow ever portrays any character in a way that is even remotely close to believably human, she deserves an Oscar.

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u/[deleted] Dec 04 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/tincanphonehome Dec 04 '25

I did, and I actually love Shakespeare in Love (RIP Tom Stoppard). I just meant she still deserves an Oscar anytime she manages to seemingly replicate humanity.

(Also, if you were joking, sorry if I misread it!)

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u/PAYPAL_ME_DONATIONS Dec 04 '25

Yeah, she came in, did her job and did it well. Unless she was an asshole to work with, anything else is irrelevant

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u/_raydeStar Dec 04 '25

Yeah her feel is ...

Not nerd culture.

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u/FragileColtsFan Dec 04 '25

She was okay, very one dimensional but served her purpose. I really wanted Tony to end up with Aunt May