‘Retired’ Gwyneth Paltrow says just one actor could convince her to make another film

‘He could probably always get me back,’ Oscar-winning Goop founder said

Gwyneth Paltrow has said there is only one star who could convince her to come out of retirement and appear in another film.

The Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love star made good of her promise to step away from the movie industry after fulfilling her Marvel requirements in 2019 with an appearance in Avengers: Endgame.

Over the years, Paltrow, the founder of wellness brand Goop, has been vocal about her increasing disdain for the rigmarole surrounding the job, telling Bazaar in 2020: “When I was acting I really burned myself out. When the flywheel kicked in, I was doing three to five movies a year.

“I really got to the point where even the little things, like sitting in the van going to set, getting your makeup touch-ups, and everything – I really don’t know that I can bear it.”

With no movie roles lined up, Paltrow has said there is just one actor who could convince her to return to the profession: her Avengers co-star Robert Downey Jr.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight at the CFDA Fashion Awards in New York earlier this week, Paltrow said: “It would be very hard for me to do any acting right at the moment, just because of my job. But I guess Robert Downey Jr could probably always get me back.”

These comments follow a revent Variety report claiming that Marvel is hoping to lure Downey Jr back to the Marvel Cinematic universe (MCU) following a downturn in profits in recent years. If Iron Man actor Downey Jr agrees to return, it seems likely he would ask Paltrow to reprise the role of his wife, Pepper Potts.

However, in 2021, self-proclaimed “homebody” Paltrow previously said she did not like starring in blockbusters as it required her to be “in hotel rooms alone for six months”, stating: ‘It’s just not who I am.”

Speaking on SiriusFM’s Quarantined with Bruce, Paltrow said that “part of the shine of acting wore off” because of the “intense public scrutiny” she was under after winning Best Actress at the 1999 Oscars.

“I think that when you hit the bullseye when you’re 26 years old, and you’re a metrics-driven person who frankly doesn’t love acting that much as it turns out, I was kinda like, ‘Ok’,” she said.

Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow in ‘Iron Man’ (Marvel Studios)

“It wasn’t like I think this isn’t worth doing, I sort of felt like, well, now who am I supposed to be? Like, what am I driving towards?”