Gwyneth Paltrow is an Academy Award-winning actor known for an array of great films as well as playing Pepper Potts in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She debuted in the franchise’s first film, Iron Man, in 2008, and continued to appear in projects all the way through Avengers: Endgame in 2019.
However, Paltrow seems to consistently forget about her time with Marvel as well as her MCU co-stars, and it’s not the only time this has happened.
The goop founder has been caught reintroducing herself to actors she’s worked with, and has admitted to forgetting which Marvel movies she’s even in. Recently, Paltrow’s onscreen love interest, Robert Downey Jr., poked fun at her during an interview.
“[She’s] impossibly intelligent, yet forever confused by the basic tenets of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its inhabitants,” Downey Jr. told The Hollywood Reporter.
Here’s a brief history of what and who Paltrow has forgotten over the years.
Sebastian Stan
Sebastian Stan first played Bucky Barnes in Captain America: The First Avenger and returned as the Winter Soldier in multiple MCU films. Despite his huge role in the franchise, Paltrow has introduced herself to Stan multiple times.
The A Different Man star once took to Instagram in 2019 to share a photo of himself with Paltrow and a group of fashion icons at a Valentino event. He playfully wrote in the caption, “[…] Glad I got to reintroduce myself to @gwynethpaltrow for the third time. We are in the same film…” (You can view the post here.)
Now, in Paltrow’s defense, she has a different MCU filmography than Stan. However, both actors were in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. While they don’t really interact, they are in some of the same scenes, including Tony Stark’s funeral, which famously had all of the actors on set together.
Tom Holland and Spider-Man: Homecoming
During Downey Jr.’s recent interview with THR, he had fun calling out Paltrow for not recognizing Tom Holland, who is best known for playing Spider-Man. In fact, Paltrow once forgot she was even in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
“‘Who’s that?’” Downey Jr. recalled her asking. “‘That’s Spider-Man. He said his name was Peter. His character’s name is Peter. He’s Tom Holland. You’ve done four movies with him.’”
Previously, Paltrow joined Iron Man director Jon Favreau and celebrity chef Roy Choi in Netflix’s The Chef Show in 2019, and it was revealed that Paltrow didn’t know she was in the MCU’s first Spidey flick.
“Remember when we were in Spider-Man?” Favreau asked Paltrow. “We weren’t in Spider-Man,” Paltrow replied. “Yes, we were,” Favreau added. “Homecoming,” Choi chimed in. “You were in Spider-Man,” Favreau repeated. “No, I was in Avengers,” Paltrow responded. “You were in Spider-Man also,” Favreau continued. “What?” Paltrow asked.
Samuel L. Jackson
Before Paltrow and Samuel L. Jackson became Marvel stars, they were both in Paul Thomas Anderson’s first feature film, Hard Eight. 12 years later, they both made their MCU debut in Iron Man. A fact Paltrow completely forgot about.
During a live Q&A for Avengers: Endgame in 2019, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige spoke about the aforementioned funeral scene.
“Gwyneth Paltrow [was] asking why Sam Jackson was there, and the other actors [were] jumping in saying, ‘What are you talking about? He’s Nick Fury! You’ve been in movies with him,’” Feige recalled.
Marvel, in general
In a 2025 interview with Vanity Fair, Paltrow was shocked to learn how many MCU films she’s appeared in.
“Did you ever imagine that when you signed on, you would end up in seven films?” the interviewer asked. “That can’t be right,” Paltrow replied. “I can’t have been in seven. Is that true?”
“One time I didn’t realize I was in Spider-Man,” she recalled. “I was like doing a scene with Robert and Jon Favreau, so I thought it was a cameo … They’re like, ‘It’s another…’ Anyway. And it turned out I was in Spider-Man, and I didn’t even realize.”
“They keep it all very top secret, you know,” she added. “They think they’re the CIA or something over there. That it’s like national secrets. Like who’s doing what and who. That’s why I didn’t know I was in Spider-Man! ‘Cause they never said. There were no signs that said Spider-Man. The script didn’t say Spider-Man. It’s all a secret.”
She pays even less attention to the Marvel projects she’s not in. On multiple occasions, she’s been asked about upcoming MCU projects and had zero knowledge of them.
“Have you watched the Hawkeye series?” someone asked on Instagram. “No, what’s that?” she replied.
She was also asked if she might appear in the 2025 film, Captain America: Brave New World. Paltrow once again asked, “What is that?”
Although, in her defense, the interviewer only said “Brave New World.” We have to assume Paltrow would’ve at least gotten the context clues had the “Captain America” part been said.
Timothée Chalamet’s love life
Currently, you can catch Paltrow on the big screen alongside Timothée Chalamet in Marty Supreme. Paltrow and Chalamet hadn’t previously worked together, but it was still surprising to learn that she didn’t know anything about the young star. After all, he’s been in some huge movies in recent years and has been nominated for two Academy Awards.
In October, Paltrow admitted to British Vogue that she was completely unaware of his highly talked-about romance with Kylie Jenner.
“Everyone makes fun of me because I don’t know anything,” Paltrow admitted. “I was like, ‘Do you have a girlfriend?’ And he was like, ‘I do.’ He mentioned that she had kids, and I was like, ‘That’s so cool. I really love to hear that [from] a young man like you.’ “
“I understand a 45-year-old who has his own kids going out with a woman with kids, but it’s a cool choice to go out with a young woman who has two kids,” she added. “I respect it, I think it’s kind of punk rock. But my point is I didn’t know [it was] Kylie Jenner…”
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