'Iron Man': Gwyneth Paltrow Remembers When She Broke Her Knee During Filming

The new Marvel Studios: The First Ten Years book is ripe with fun stories and informative interviews, all featuring the the casts and filmmakers of the first 20 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This hardcover collector's item includes shared words between the Iron Man team: Jon Favreau (the film's director/Happy Hogan), Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man), and Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts).

When asked about their memorable moments on set, Paltrow said she had "tons", but ultimately went on to share the story of her knee injury. Paltrow says after it happened, Favreau's response was: "Okay, Blondie, let's just keep it moving"!

It may sound like Favreau was being a big ol' jerk, but it turns out no one really knew how bad the knee was until shooting ended for the day. "We were all having dinner at this pizza place," Paltrow explains, "I was sitting next to Jon's wife, and my knee swelled up. She said that I had to go to see the doctor." Favreau's wife, Joya Tillem, is a physician so Paltrow was right to take her advice.

"The doctors couldn't believe that you were able to walk!," Favreau said of the X-ray that followed. A knee break can be nothing short of excruciating, so Paltrow must have a pretty high pain tolerance. Can you imagine finishing up your work day and then going out for pizza with that kind of injury?

"Jon had to say he was sorry for not believing that I hurt my knee," added Paltrow. It's a good thing, too, because we want to remain Team Favreau.

When discussing which film set this happened on, Robert Downey Jr. made the point: "On the first one, of course... someone's got to break a knee." Typically, the term is "break a leg" and it's not meant to be literal, but one could argue it brought good luck to the franchise. Luckily, the cast can joke about it, which is no surprise considering it's been ten years and they're all pals.

The Iron Man crew had much more to say about their MCU journey, including Paltrow's extremely honest opinion about her early Pepper Potts wig.

If you're dying for more Marvel content, the official release date for Marvel Studios: The First Ten Years is November 20th, but you can pre-order it on Amazon today!