NEW YORK CITY—Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow would seem like an odd couple to take on lead roles in a big summer film. Both are better known for appearing in films that have budgets about equal to the size of the salaries they probably earned for costarring in Iron Man, in which Downey plays the title character and alter ego Tony Stark and Paltrow plays Stark’s supportive assistant, Pepper Potts. (The film, directed by Jon Favreau, is currently playing at Vancouver theatres.)

Most of the films with which Paltrow followed up her 1999 Oscar win for Shakespeare in Love have been independent films, with the list including The Royal Tenenbaums, Proof, and Sylvia. In a New York City hotel room, however, she says that her choices have had as much to do with being an actor in modern Hollywood than with her affection for low-budget movies.

“I think it is a strange time for us gals, because we have good roles in indie films but no one sees those movies. It is very hard for most actresses to find something that will reach people. I didn’t take on Iron Man just to be in a big movie, because you don’t know what is going to happen to any film, but for me it was about the potential for reaching people.”

Paltrow married Coldplay frontman Chris Martin in 2003 and daughter Apple was born a year later. They had a son, Moses, in 2006. She says that although she had done few films after her daughter was born, she found herself needing to act again within a few months of her son’s birth.

“When my daughter was born, I didn’t work much. I did Proof and a few cameos. So when my son was born, I didn’t know if I would ever feel the desire to go back to work. Then, when he was six months old, I began to feel the fire and I thought, ‘I need to wait until he is a year old,’ because I had given her [Apple] all this time. I thought, ‘If something comes up when he is about a year old and it is inspiring and the people are really good, I will think about it.’ About that time, Jon called me and said that he wanted people who would bring quality performances to a big summer movie, and I said yes.”

Paltrow says that her own decisions regarding parenting and relationships have been inspired by her parents, actor Blythe Danner and producer Bruce Paltrow, whose marriage lasted 33 years, ending with his death in 2002. “I feel like I had a real advantage being brought up by people who could understand what was real and important in life. They imparted that to me, so my instinct is to put my family before my work, which is what my mother did as well. I think that if you are going to keep a family successful and thriving, the mom has to be there and put the time into every relationship in the house.”