Leslie Bibb is poised to become America?s next genre sweetheart, starring in not only the upcoming Trick ?r Treat and The Midnight Meat Train, but this weekend?s hotly anticipated blockbuster Iron Man. We spoke with Bibb last Sunday at the New York City press junket for Iron Man, where the actress chatted about her role as reporter Christine Everhart, who interrogates and then beds Robert Downey Jr.?s Tony Stark. Bibb proved to be not only gorgeous and charming in real life, but pretty darn funny as well?

[Note: After reading this interview be sure to check out our conversation with Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr., and our exclusive video interviews with Favreau, Downey and the rest of the cast!]

So how did it feel playing a reporter?

It was fun. I mean, I?ve been around you guys a long time. But I just said something in the other room, and they were like, ?What are you talking about?? I was like, ?There?s a lot of power you have in the press.? They were like, ?We don?t have any power.? I was like, ?Are you on crack? Yes, you do. You may not think so, but you do.? So it was fun. I liked playing with the idea of ?How far do you go for a story?? It?s interesting to me, that idea that you can do a story and however you get it?. Let?s say you break something huge, like Watergate. Let?s just say you broke it, but it ended up badly. It could go from being Pulitzer Prize to something not good. But it ends up going ?Hey, Watergate?look what these guys did. Deep Throat?? But there?s a fine line with what you do to get a story, and I think it?s kind of interesting, looking at my character. I think that Christine?she becomes sort of the conscience for this movie. Whenever she shows up with Tony she?s definitely holding up a mirror to him and saying, ?Hey, pal, you want to be accountable or do you want to pay baby games? Come on. Step up. Walk the walk. Talk the talk. Because right now you?re just blabbing, and you?re not manning up. Be accountable for what you?re doing.?

But she?s flawed. She ends up sleeping with him. And I don?t think she sleeps with him for the story. She already got the story, she already knew. And I love that sort of flawed nature of her. Somebody said, ?Oh, it was so disappointing.? I said, ?Yeah, but you think about a bigger story, and hopefully you see her again, and hopefully you go a little bit deeper into this.? Christine definitely gets under?for some reason I ruffle his feathers. He?s a pretty cool cat, but whenever I?m around I ruffle his feathers, get under his skin. And I love the fact that the next morning she?s in his shirt, and she?s walking around and she?s like, ?If I did find something, I would use it?? Like she?s got the keys to the kingdom, and then she sees Pepper and it?s like? I can?t imagine. I would feel so nervous, to see this woman. I?m in his house. I?m in his shirt. I love the fact that Christine?as soon as she turns it was like [snaps fingers] interview mode??This girl I never get. You can never get her. She?s so elusive. I don?t care that I have on no underwear and Tony?s shirt on. I?m interviewing her like nobody?s business.? I love that moment. I think she has good intentions, and it?s interesting to see what she?ll do for a story.

Robert mentioned you improvised that bedroom scene, and socked him in the jaw.

I socked him in the temple. Literally. We did this whole thing where I smacked him, and I was like, ?I hate you.? It was a really funny sex scene. Because a sex scene is stupid anyway, because you?re like worried about your breath, you?re worried about, ?Am I sweating? Is the chicken cutlet that?s in my shirt gonna fall out? What is happening? I?m scantily clad. I?m in my squirrel covers. What is happening? People are everywhere. And I?m kissing Robert Downey Jr? Focus!? So then he?s like, ?Let?s make it funny,? and I was like, ?Oh, thank God. I can?t try to be cool in this scene. If I can be funny then I?m down.? So we did this thing where it was like..I smack him and tell him I hate him. It really was kind of fantastic. But you can?t really smack Iron Man?it sort of defeats the purpose. But it was really funny when we were doing it. I?m smacking him, and I was like, ?Robert, are you sure?? He?s like, ?Do it!? So we did this one thing where I smacked him and we rolled off the bed, and I just came back and start punching him. I was like, ?That was dark. Why did I just do that?? He goes, ?I like it!? I was like, ?Let?s do it!? So the stuntman came out and we do it again, and? I don?t know what happened, but like it got a little kerflunkity. I mean, I started in Cleveland, and I came to California?into his temple! I landed at LAX in his temple. This crazy scream you hear in the movie?of him going, ?Argh!? That?s him screaming when I hit him in the temple. I immediately went down on him, and I?m cradling his head in mine. I was like, ?Oh my God, I just punched you.? You don?t know? It?s like, ?Is he gonna flip out? Is he gonna scream at me?? It was such an accident. I mean, I really hit him hard. And he just started laughing! He was like, ?No, it?s my fault.? I was like, ?It?s my fault!? And he was totally cool. Then we did it ten more times. But it still had the intention. It?s still there, and you still have that great laugh that happened. But I wish they would put it on the extended version, because I think it would be hi-sterical! It?s just dark, it?s really dark. Like, you sort of see the darkness of these two people. And I like exploring her darkness.

She took a risk. She did what she wanted to do as an empowered woman.

She gets under his skin, and that?s where her good intentions come back. I?m not sure what she?d do for another story. She rides a line. But I think at the end of the day I was after that. I was like, ?You always know. I don?t care what he says to me. I don?t care how snarky he gets.? I always know that I?m getting to him. And if I?m getting to him, I?m gonna get a good story. And also?you may have seen me naked, but, pal, I saw you naked. Two can tango. You know what I mean? ?You can sit there, and feel like you?ve got some power, but I know what the junk in the trunk looks like.? I felt like that?s what she was going with. And there is something empowering about that with her. So it was fun.

He?s so adorable, that Robert. I always say I think the sun shines out of his ass, and everyone?s like, ?That?s an interesting phrase!? But I do, because he?s such a brilliant actor. He really is. I mean, Less than Zero, Chaplin?he?s amazing. Good Night and Good Luck. He?s so good, and he?s so simple and so understated. I love watching him work. Sometimes you meet people and you?re like, ?Hmm, I really liked you as an actor. Maybe I don?t like you as a human being.? I don?t want that. I want the whole fantasy. It?s part of my fear. Like, I adore Jessica Lang, and she has to?in my mind?be incredible. But it?s like nerve-wracking??What if she?s not nice?? And when I met Robert I was like, ?What is he gonna be like?? And he was that and a bag of chips. He was all of it. He?s so fun and he?s so collaborative, and such a good guy.

Do you think we?ll see your character in another movie? Because obviously they?re setting it up like you?re the reporter who?s always gonna show up and drive Tony Stark insane.

I hope so. That would be nice. Would you say that to Favreau? Please do mention that. I?ll give you some money later. [Laughs.] Yeah, I hope so. I mean, I like working with these guys. Favreau?s so good at his job. He did a great job with this movie. It?s such a cool movie, because it?s an action movie that actually has a story. Because sometimes they just sort of blow stuff up, and it?s happening at you. And you?re in this! You?re invested. And it?s funny, it?s clever. And that doesn?t always happen.