Robert Downey Jr. playfully teased longtime friend and Iron Man co-star Gwyneth Paltrow for seemingly forgetting who Tom Holland is.
At The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment gala in Los Angeles on Wednesday, December 3, Downey, 60, joked about Paltrow, 53, saying that despite being “impossibly intelligent,” the Oscar winner remains “forever confused by the basic tenets of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its inhabitants.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Downey recalled that Paltrow once asked him, “Who’s that?” He replied, “That’s Spider-Man. His name is Peter. He’s Tom Holland. You’ve done four movies with him.”
Indeed, Paltrow and Holland, 29, have appeared together in several Marvel Cinematic Universe films, including Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame.
Paltrow first joined the MCU in 2008 as Pepper Potts, Iron Man’s assistant-turned-wife, though she has gone viral in the past for seemingly forgetting her own role in the franchise.
During a March interview with Vanity Fair, the Sliding Doors star expressed surprise at learning she had appeared in seven Marvel films.
“Did you ever imagine that when you signed on, you would end up in seven films?” Paltrow was asked. She replied, “That can’t be right. I can’t have been in seven. Is that true?”
In 2019, Paltrow made headlines when she forgot she was in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
“One time I didn’t realize I was in Spider-Man,” she said in the Vanity Fair interview. “I was doing a scene with Robert and Jon Favreau, so I thought it was just a cameo. They were like, ‘It’s another…’ Anyway, it turned out I was in Spider-Man and I didn’t even realize it.”
During Wednesday’s gala, Downey also playfully teased Paltrow about her separation from ex-husband Chris Martin, joking that the couple “introduced the planet to the possibility of ‘conscious uncoupling’ remember that? which Hollywood has done a great job not emulating.”
He then quipped about Paltrow’s infamous ski crash trial before presenting her with the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award.
“In an age where we so crave leadership, example, integrity, and resolve, yet too often come up short, we have here a woman willing to go to trial, confronting her retired optometrist accuser over an alleged injury on a Deer Valley ski slope and comport herself so honorably that a musical theater production is born to commemorate her moral strength, intestinal fortitude, not to mention her impeccably tasteful, civil suit chic-yet-practical courtroom attire,” Downey joked.
Related: Gwyneth Paltrow Calls Husband Brad Falchuk a ‘Grinch’ During the Holidays
“It’s time to recognize Gwyneth f***ing Paltrow,” Downey said, introducing the actress to the stage.
In her acceptance speech, Paltrow praised Downey, saying, “Robert, I love you so much. You are the older brother I never had and wasn’t sure I wanted, but I’m so grateful to you for being the best partner on screen for always being the most honest and brilliant reflection, not just about me, but about us, our families, and the world.”
The Marty Supreme actress also gave a shout-out to her husband, Glee co-creator Brad Falchuk, describing him as “the most feminist man I know,” who “lets me be my full self every day.”
