Gwyneth Paltrow had no knowledge of Iron Man

Gwyneth Paltrow didn't know anything about 'Iron Man' until she agree to star in the films.

The 40-year-old actress portrays Pepper Potts - the love interest of the titular hero Tony Stark - in the superhero franchise but she admits she had no knowledge of the character prior to the franchise and had never read any of the Marvel comics.

Speaking at the London press conference for the movie at the Dorchester Hotel on Wednesday (17.03.13), she said: 'You know, I had never even heard of Iron Man until Jon Favreau (first 'Iron Man' director) called me. I wasn't reading comics at all. When the first 'Iron Man' came about I'd taken a few years off and I was at home having kids and stuff, there was no script.

Robert and Jon talked me into doing it and it's been a great journey playing Pepper ... I never would have thought of myself as being in a comic book superhero movie.'

Gwyneth also admits she was initially confused by the new movie when she read the script.

However, the scenes made more sense when she saw them on the big screen at a private screening of the film with her husband, Coldplay singer Chris Martin, and their two children, Apple, eight, and Moses, seven, and their kids' friends.

The Oscar winner explained: 'We all saw it together with all of my kids' friends and everybody loved it. Including myself - I was really surprised.

'I find it difficult to follow the plot on paper - who's getting shot off of what, who's bad, who's good - it all gets very confusing.

'The movie plays so well and it was so much fun to watch. I was really amazed by the job Shane (director Shane Black) did and I thought it was really good - so did my family.'

Gwyneth was joined at the press conference by her co-stars Don Cheadle (James Rhodes / War Machine), Sir Ben Kingsley (The Mandarin) and Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark / Iron Man) and director Shane Black.

'Iron Man 3' is released internationally on April 25 and in the US on May 3.