Iron Man 3 star Gwyneth Paltrow: I never would have thought I'd be in a comic book movie

Iron Man 3 star Gwyneth Paltrow (Rex Features)

Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow has confessed she struggled to follow the plot for her latest film Iron Man 3 after reading the script.

The actress said she was baffled by the action scenes when she read them but was relieved to find they made much more sense when they were transferred to the screen.

Paltrow, in London ahead of tomorrow night's premiere of the superhero movie, said her children and their young friends had been given a private screening of the film this week - and loved it.

And she admitted she was actually "surprised" to find she enjoyed watching it herself.

The actress, who plays Pepper Potts in the Iron Man series, revealed she had sat down with husband, Coldplay singer Chris Martin, along with their two children Apple, eight, and Moses, seven, and their pals to watch her starring role.

Paltrow, 40, said: "We all saw it last night 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 (Black, the director) did and I thought it was really good - so did my family."

Paltrow is back for a fourth time as Potts - after playing her in the previous two Iron Man movies as well as last year's Avengers Assemble - alongside Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark, aka Iron Man.

But she said she had never expected to be in a comic book adaptation and had not even heard of Iron Man until she was approached to star in the first film by director Jon Favreau.

"I didn't grow up reading comics at all. I'd taken a few years off and was at home having kids, and there was no script so I was really flying blind, but Robert and Jon convinced me to do it.

"I never would have thought of myself being in a comic book superhero movie and now I'm so glad it's been my main job for the last six years."

PA