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Jon Favreau Used Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow's Real Banter in Iron Man: 'I Would Take Notes'

Director Jon Favreau wrote down costars Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow's off-camera banter for inclusion in 'Iron Man,' telling PEOPLE, 'I would take notes.'

Which is why Favreau cast Downey as the lead in 2008’s Iron Man, a movie that would cement the star’s leading-man status and launch the multi-billion-dollar Marvel Cinematic Universe. The breezy back-and-forth they have in the movie is reflective of the actors’ real conversations — in part because Favreau incorporated it into the film. That’s part of the reason it’s so gratifying for Favreau to see his friend sweep awards season for playing scheming government bureaucrat Lewis Strauss in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.

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