Clark Gregg Explains How His “Iron Man” Character Grew from “Nothing”

When Clark Gregg signed on to play Agent Phil Coulson in the Iron Man franchise, he didn’t necessarily think he’d be promoting the series’ third installment in 2011.

In a recent interview with CraveOnline, the 49-year-old said that his character wasn’t supposed to be so important when it was conceived for 2008’s Iron Man. 

“He literally (was), you know, a guy who kind of comes in and brings the paperwork and kind of vanishes. That’s really all he did. He showed up and he gave somebody a briefcase or something like that. It was really nothing,” Gregg recalled. “They were like, ‘Would you do this?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, they’re just going to cut me out, but what the hell? I’ve got to show up and at least do this scene with Robert Downey because I love him so much.’”

In addition to being a regular on CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine, Gregg has also recently appeared in (500) Days of Summer, Mr. Popper’s Penguins and Thor, reprising his role as Coulson in the latter.  

“They called and said, ‘Listen, Coulson’s back in Iron Man 2,’ and I was like, ‘Shut… the front door! I’m doing another one of these?!’ continued Gregg. “And then when I was doing those scenes (in Iron Man 2), and I kept saying I was going to New Mexico in the draft they gave me when I got there, I said, ‘What’s in New Mexico?’ And they said, ‘Oh, you are! You’re going to be in Thor!’ It’s just been a kind of like a weird, Make-A-Wish Foundation thing, where it seems so ludicrous every time it happens. I keep waiting for someone to show up and tell me that I have two weeks to live.”