No One on ‘Iron Man 2’ Set Loves Gwyneth Paltrow

While shooting for “Iron Man 2” is far from over, Gwyneth Paltrow seems to have wrapped up her bit as Pepper Potts, but the remaining cast and production staff waste no tear in crying for her to return. Even if she’s not openly aggressive or annoying, Paltrow is extremely condescending and cold, and this makes it very hard for anyone to work with her, Fox411 says.

Reports about Gwyneth and co-star Scarlett Johansson having a very girlie-like kind of feud on the set of the upcoming blockbuster have been flying around the blogosphere ever since the latter was attached to the project. Scarlett, for her part, has repeatedly denied all such reports, as also did director Jon Favreau on a few counts, but that did not stop the rumor mill from spinning the stories. According to Fox411, there was some truth to them after all, in that there was plenty of tension on the movie set.

Gwyneth was responsible for all that, even if she never did anything specific to lead to a conflict. “Gwyneth is extremely cool at work. She’s just a step above professional, too snobby. Gwyneth is not friendly to anyone, and tends to make people feel awkward and uncomfortable. She wasn’t outright rude to Scarlett, she just didn’t ever speak to her. Gwyneth went out of her way to avoid Scarlett, and they had zero contact, at Gwyneth’s choosing.” an unnamed source tells Fox411 of the icy atmosphere on the set.

Apparently, while Paltrow was present on the set, everything had to go according to plan, which, of course, she had drawn beforehand. Whenever something unexpected happened and things were held off, she would put on a face that told the entire cast she was not to be crossed and, as such, turned the atmosphere into ice again. Not once did she try to be nice or mildly pleasant, the same source adds, which is why most cast members rather preferred hanging out with her husband, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, than with her.

This is also why they would rather have her gone and suffer because they couldn't, as her Pepper character was indispensable to the franchise. “She is not going anywhere. As long as Gwyneth wants to be in the movies, she will be, and the crew has to learn how to handle her.” the same source says, disappointed to the utmost.

“Iron Man 2” is scheduled to arrive in theaters in May 2010. By that time, plenty of other details will emerge regarding it, so make sure you keep an eye on this space.