IRON MAN: LESLIE BIBB

NEW YORK -- Leslie Bibb's character in Iron Man, a Vanity Fair reporter named Christine Everhart, gets her story -- and much more.

Christine falls prey to Tony Stark's charms early in Iron Man, but, despite that indescretion, returns in the film to continue to question what's really going on at Stark Enterprises. Her reveals continue to fuel Stark's quest for redemption as Iron Man.

"She becomes sort of the conscience for this movie," Bibb said at last weekend's junket for Iron Man. "Whenever she shows up with Tony, she's definitely holding up the mirror and saying, 'Hey, pal, you want to be accountable? C'mon, step up. Walk the walk. Talk the talk. Because right now, you're just blabbing and you're not manning up.'

"I don't think she sleeps with him for the story. She got the story. She already knew. She hates him, but I love that flawed nature of her."

Bibb -- whose credits include Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and such TV shows as Crossing Jordan, Line of Fire, ER and Popular -- said she was gratified by her character's influence on Stark.

"You always know, that at the end of the day, no matter what he says to me or how snarky he gets, I always know that I'm getting to him," she said. "And if I'm getting to him, I'm going to get a good story."

Bibb's bed scene with Robert Downey Jr. ended with an accident that didn't make the movie but influenced the cut.

"I socked him in the temple," Bibb said. "We did this whole thing, where I smacked him and I'm Like, 'I hate you!' It was a really funny sex scene.

"Because a sex scene is stupid anyway. Because you're worred about your breath, you're worried about, am I sweating? Is the chicken cutlet that's in my shirt going to fall out? What is happening? I'm scantly clad. People are everywhere -- and I'm kissing Robert Downey Jr. Focus!

"Then he's like, 'Let's make it funny.' And, I'm like, 'Oh thank God! I can't try to be cool in this scene.' If I can be funny, then I'm down."

Downey encouraged Bibb to smack him a bit. One time, Downey rolled off the bed and Bibb reared back to punch him. "I was like, 'That's dark. Why did I just do that?'" she said. "And he was like, 'I like it. Let's do it."

So after a consultation with a stunt supervisor, they decided to try a punch. "I don't know what happened, but I started from Cleveland and I came to California right into his temple," Bibb said. "I landed right into LAX in his temple. And this crazy scream you hear from him in the movie, that's him screaming when I hit in the temple."

Bibb said she hopes the punch winds up on the DVD.

In working scenes with Downey and Gwyneth Paltrom, Bibb said she had to "buck up" to act with such luminaires.

"It's those nice moments where you go, (singing) 'My life has led to this moment, my life has led to this moment,'" she said. "It's good times. You get to meet people you admire."

Bibb said she hopes she returns for any Iron Man sequels. "I like working with these guys," she said.