Paul Rudd | |
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Born | Paul Stephen Rudd April 6, 1969 Passaic, New Jersey, U.S. |
Alma mater | University of Kansas American Academy of Dramatic Arts |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1991–present |
Works | Full list |
Spouse | Julie Yaeger (m. 2003) |
Children | 2 |
Awards | Full list |
Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor. He studied theater at the University of Kansas and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts before making his acting debut in 1991. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in July 2015, [1] and was included on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list in 2019. [2] In 2021, he was named People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive".
His films include Clueless (1995), Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995), Romeo + Juliet (1996), Wet Hot American Summer (2001), Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Knocked Up (2007), I Love You, Man (2009), This Is 40 (2012), and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013). Notably, he has played the superhero Scott Lang / Ant-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), beginning with Ant-Man (2015) and most recently in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) and the Ghostbuster Gary Grooberson in Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024).
Rudd has also appeared in numerous television shows, including the sitcom Friends as Mike Hannigan, guest roles on Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! , Reno 911! and Parks and Recreation , and as guest host of Saturday Night Live multiple times. He had a dual role in the comedy series Living with Yourself , which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy. He starred in the miniseries The Shrink Next Door (2021). He received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his starring role in the Hulu series Only Murders in the Building .
Paul Stephen Rudd was born on April 6, 1969, in Passaic, New Jersey, to English Jewish parents. [3] [4] His father, Michael Rudd (1943–2008), was a historical tour guide and former vice-president of TWA. [5] [6] [7] His mother, Gloria Irene Granville, was a sales manager at television station KSMO-TV in Kansas City, Missouri. [8] [9] They were both from London, his father hailing from Edgware and his mother from Surbiton, [10] [11] and both were descended from Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants who moved to England from Belarus, Poland and Russia. [8] [12] [13] [3] [14] [15] [16] His grandfather changed his paternal family's original surname, Rudnitsky, to Rudd. His maternal family's surname was Goldstein; his parents were second cousins. [16] [17] Rudd had a Bar Mitzvah service [8] [18] in Ontario, Canada. [19] Growing up, he loved reading the British comics The Beano and The Dandy , which his uncle sent him from the United Kingdom. [20]
When Rudd was ten, his family moved to Lenexa in Johnson County, Kansas. Because of his father's occupation, they also spent three years in Anaheim, California. [21] [22] [23] In Kansas, Rudd attended Broadmoor Junior High and graduated from Shawnee Mission West High School in 1987. He placed 5th in Humorous Interpretation at the 1987 National Forensics League National Tournament. [24] He attended the University of Kansas, where he majored in theater [25] and belonged to the Sigma Nu fraternity's Nu Chapter. [26] He studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, [27] with fellow actor Matthew Lillard. [25] He also spent three months studying Jacobean drama at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford. [28] [29] While at acting school, he worked as a DJ at bar mitzvahs. [30] After graduation, he had a variety of odd jobs, including glazing hams at the Holiday Ham Company in Overland Park. [31]
Rudd made his acting debut in 1991 when he starred in a Super Nintendo commercial.[ citation needed ] In 1992, he starred in the television drama Sisters as Kirby Quimby Philby. [32] In 1994, he appeared in Wild Oats for six episodes. He left Sisters in 1995 to appear in the comedy film Clueless with Alicia Silverstone. [33] Rudd followed Clueless with supporting roles films such as in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers as Tommy Doyle, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet , The Locusts , Overnight Delivery , The Object of My Affection , and 200 Cigarettes . [33] He was in the cast of the 1999 film The Cider House Rules that received a SAG nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
He played FBI Agent Ian Curtis in Benny Chan's 2000 Hong Kong action film Gen-Y Cops . In 2002, he was cast on the sitcom Friends as Mike Hannigan, who dates and marries Phoebe Buffay, played by Lisa Kudrow. In 2006, he appeared in several episodes of Reno 911! as Guy Gerricault (pronounced "jericho"), the coach of a lamaze class; then portrayed a drug lord in the film Reno 911!: Miami. He guest-starred as a has-been 1990s rock star, Desmond Fellows, on the television series Veronica Mars , in the 2007 episode "Debasement Tapes".
The year 2004 marked the start of Rudd's work with director/producer Judd Apatow, first on the film Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy as Brian Fantana with Steve Carell, David Koechner and Will Ferrell, produced by Apatow; and again in 2005 in The 40-Year-Old Virgin with Carell and Seth Rogen, directed by Apatow. He subsequently appeared in Apatow in 2007's Knocked Up as frustrated husband Pete, married to Leslie Mann's character, [34] co-starring with Jason Segel, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel. He narrated the 2007 edition of the long-running sports documentary series Hard Knocks , which featured the Kansas City Chiefs, whom he continues to support. It was the only season not to feature the series' regular narrator, Liev Schreiber.
Rudd appeared as John Lennon in the comedy film Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story in 2007; [33] and as a drug-addled surf instructor in Nicholas Stoller's Forgetting Sarah Marshall in 2008 with Jason Segel and Jonah Hill, both of which Apatow produced. [35] Rudd had uncredited cameos in Year One (2009) and Bridesmaids (2011). In 2012, he starred in and co-produced with Apatow Wanderlust with Jennifer Aniston. [33] He starred with Leslie Mann in the Knocked Up spinoff This Is 40 , [34] directed and produced by Apatow; and reprised his role of Brian Fantana in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013).
In 2007, he starred in The Oh in Ohio and The Ten , which reunited him with David Wain and Michael Showalter, [36] and then in Over Her Dead Body with Eva Longoria the next year. In his next comedy which he also wrote, Role Models , he and co-star Seann William Scott portray energy drink salesmen forced to perform community service in a child mentoring program. [37]
In 2009, Rudd again appeared with Jason Segel in I Love You, Man where he and Segel play buddies who bond over their shared love for the rock band Rush. Both Rudd and Segel are themselves fans of the band. [38] [39] Also in 2009, Rudd co-created the TV series Party Down with John Embom, Rob Thomas and Dan Etheridge. [33] He lent his voice to the DreamWorks animated movie Monsters Vs. Aliens .
In 2010, Rudd reunited with Steve Carell for the first time since The 40-Year-Old Virgin for the Jay Roach-directed comedy Dinner for Schmucks . In 2012, he had a supporting role in the drama The Perks of Being a Wallflower , playing Mr. Anderson, a teacher of Charlie, played by Logan Lerman. He starred in the 2011 comedy-drama film Our Idiot Brother with Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, and Emily Mortimer. [40] It was the fifth film that Rudd starred in with Elizabeth Banks. He had previously appeared with her in Wet Hot American Summer (2001), The Baxter (2005), The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) and Role Models (2008). [41]
In 2012, Rudd signed to appear on four episodes of NBC's Parks and Recreation as Bobby Newport, a candidate for City Council and a rival of Amy Poehler's character Leslie Knope, a role for which he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series. [42] In 2014, he began providing voiceovers for Hyundai television commercials. He has also voiced the audiobook recordings of John Hodgman's books The Areas of My Expertise (2005) and More Information Than You Require (2008). [43] [44]
On December 19, 2013, Rudd was officially confirmed as cast in the 2015 Marvel film Ant-Man . He played lead character Scott Lang/Ant-Man. [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] Rudd reprised his role in Captain America: Civil War (2016) [50] as well as Ant-Man's 2018 sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp ; he also co-wrote the latter. [51] [52] Rudd returned alongside Evangeline Lilly in Avengers: Endgame (2019), which received critical acclaim and went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time. He reprised his role in 2023 with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania .
Rudd reprised his role as Andy from Wet Hot American Summer in the Netflix prequel Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp , alongside an ensemble cast including Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler and Elizabeth Banks, all reprising their roles from the 2001 film. In 2016, he appeared in the comedy-drama film The Fundamentals of Caring , alongside Selena Gomez, and lent his voice to the animated films The Little Prince and Sausage Party . He also lent his voice to a struggling actor named John in the animated comedy film Nerdland (2016), alongside Patton Oswalt. [53] [54] Rudd was also cast as the lead in The Catcher Was a Spy (2018), playing Moe Berg, a catcher for the Boston Red Sox who joined the OSS during World War II. In August 2018, Rudd was cast in Netflix's comedy series Living with Yourself , alongside Aisling Bea. [55] [56] He also executive produced the series, which premiered on October 18, 2019. [57] [58] [59] He also appeared in season 3 of Hulu's comedy mystery series Only Murders in the Building . [60]
From 2004 until 2021, during all appearances on the late night comedy shows hosted by comedian Conan O'Brien, when promoting his projects Rudd would explain the clip that is about to be shown, but would then throw to a clip from the 1988 movie Mac and Me instead. Rudd admitted that he "never imagined" that the running gag would last so long. "There's something so tricky about it. Cause here I am. I'm gonna sell my wares on TV. Like, 'Here's something from what I just filmed.' It just seemed—and still does to a large extent—kind of insincere," he said. [61] Rudd continued the tradition by deceiving Conan with an audio version of the prank on a 2022 episode of the podcast Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend , "Paul Rudd Returns". [62]
In 2024, Rudd received two nominations at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards; for his role as a murder victim in the mystery series Only Murders in the Building he was one of the nominees for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, while his narration in the National Geographic documentary series Secrets of the Octopus earned him a nomination for Outstanding Narrator. [63]
Rudd has also appeared in Broadway plays, the first being The Last Night of Ballyhoo as Joe Farkas in 1997. [64] The next year he appeared in Twelfth Night with Kyra Sedgwick and Max Wright at the Lincoln Center Theatre. [65] In 2006, he appeared in the Broadway production of Richard Greenberg's Three Days of Rain with Bradley Cooper and Julia Roberts at the Bernard Jacobs Theater. [66] In 2012, Rudd appeared in the Broadway production of Craig Wright's Grace at the Cort Theatre, with Academy Award nominee Michael Shannon, Kate Arrington, and seven-time Emmy Award winner Ed Asner.
In 2000–2001, Rudd was in a production of Long Day's Journey Into Night with Jessica Lange, Charles Dance and Olivia Colman, at the Lyric Theatre, London. In 2001, he starred as Adam in the original London production of Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things , and again Off-Broadway for three months starting in October 2001. Two years later, a film version was made with the same cast.
In 2003, Rudd married Julie Yaeger, [67] whom he met (shortly after working on Clueless) in his publicist's office, where she worked. [68] She has since become a screenwriter and producer. [69] They live in Rhinebeck, New York with their two children: a son born in 2006, and daughter born in 2010. [70]
Rudd is a fan of MLB's Kansas City Royals, [71] Kansas Jayhawks sports, and the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, for whom he narrated the 2007 season of HBO's Hard Knocks. [72] Rudd has also narrated the Chiefs' annual Super Bowl recap episodes of America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions in 2020, 2023, and 2024. [73]
Rudd received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on July 1, 2015, unveiling the 2,554th star on the mile-long strip of plaques on Hollywood Boulevard. He said, "I remember being a kid and walking this boulevard and reading the names and thinking about what so many other millions of people thought about, which is, you know, 'Who's that?'" [74]
Since 2014, Rudd and fellow actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan have been co-owners of Samuel's Sweet Shop, a candy store in Rhinebeck, New York that they saved from closing when the previous owner, a friend of theirs, died unexpectedly. [75]
Rudd's seemingly ageless appearance has been subject to numerous jokes and memes; this has even been referenced in Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) where Deadpool and Wolverine stumble upon Giant-Man's corpse, prompting the former to say "Paul Rudd finally aged!" [76] Responding to the jokes, Rudd has explained that sleep, diet, and exercise are his holy grail of anti-aging. He reported that eight hours of sleep, along with cardio, exercise with weights, and healthy meals, make it possible for him to defy aging. [77]
Rudd identifies as Jewish, although he has also admitted that he is not "particularly religious." [78]
Rudd is a supporter of the Stuttering Association for the Young (SAY), a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping young people who stutter. He hosted its 6th Annual All-Star Bowling Benefit on January 22, 2018. [79] He told Vanity Fair that he became an advocate for stuttering awareness after portraying a character who stuttered in a play. [80] Also, he is a founder of The Big Slick, a celebrity charity sports event held in Kansas City each June that supports Kansas City's Children's Mercy Hospital.
Rudd was part of Seth Rogen's Hilarity for Charity, to increase awareness and investment in Alzheimer's research. [81]
Leslie Jean Mann is an American actress. She has appeared in numerous films, including The Cable Guy (1996), She's the One (1996), George of the Jungle (1997), Big Daddy (1999), Orange County (2002), The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Knocked Up (2007), Drillbit Taylor (2008), I Love You Phillip Morris (2009), 17 Again (2009), Funny People (2009), This Is 40 (2012), The Other Woman (2014), and Blockers (2018).
Edgar Howard Wright is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zooms and a signature editing style that includes transitions, whip pans and wipes. He first made independent short films before making his first feature film A Fistful of Fingers in 1995. Wright created and directed the comedy series Asylum in 1996, written with David Walliams. After directing several other television shows, Wright directed the sitcom Spaced (1999–2001), which aired for two series and starred frequent collaborators Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
Seth Aaron Rogen is a Canadian actor, comedian and filmmaker. Originally a stand-up comedian in Vancouver, he moved to Los Angeles for a part in Judd Apatow's series Freaks and Geeks in 1999, and got a part on Apatow's sitcom Undeclared in 2001, which also hired him as a writer. Rogen landed a job as a staff writer on the final season of Da Ali G Show (2004), for which the writing team was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series. Apatow subsequently guided him toward a film career.
Judd Apatow is an American director, producer, screenwriter and comedian, best known for his work in comedy films. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he produced and directed the films The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Knocked Up (2007), Funny People (2009), This Is 40 (2012), Trainwreck (2015), The King of Staten Island (2020), and The Bubble (2022).
Jonathan Adam Saunders Baruchel is a Canadian actor and director. He is best known for his voice role as Hiccup Haddock in the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, and for his lead roles in the comedies Fanboys (2009), She's Out of My League (2010), and This Is the End (2013). Baruchel was the co-lead in the Disney action-fantasy film The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010). Films in which Baruchel has had a starring role have grossed over $1.28 billion at the worldwide box office as of 2024.
The 40-Year-Old Virgin is a 2005 American romantic comedy film directed by Judd Apatow, who produced the film with Clayton Townsend and Shauna Robertson. It features Steve Carell as the titular 40-year-old virgin Andy, an employee at an electronics store. Paul Rudd, Romany Malco, and Seth Rogen play co-workers who resolve to help him lose his virginity, and Catherine Keener stars as Andy's love interest, Trish.
Jason Jordan Segel is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Marshall Eriksen in the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother from 2005 to 2014. He began his career with director and producer Judd Apatow on the television series Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000) and Undeclared (2001–2002) before gaining prominence for his leading roles in various successful comedy films in which he has starred, written, and produced.
Martin James Pflieger Schienle, known professionally as Martin Starr, is an American actor. He is known for the television roles of Bill Haverchuck on the comedy drama Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000), Roman DeBeers on the comedy series Party Down, Bertram Gilfoyle on the HBO series Silicon Valley (2014–2019), for his film roles in Knocked Up (2007) and Adventureland (2009), and as Roger Harrington in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films The Incredible Hulk (2008), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).
Knocked Up is a 2007 American romantic comedy film written, produced and directed by Judd Apatow, and starring Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Jason Segel and Martin Starr. It follows the repercussions of a drunken one-night stand between a slacker and a recently promoted media personality that results in an unintended pregnancy.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a 2008 American romantic comedy film directed by Nicholas Stoller and starring Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis and Russell Brand. The film, which was written by Segel and co-produced by Judd Apatow, was released by Universal Pictures. Filming began in April 2007 at the Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore of Oahu Island in Hawaii. The film was released in North American theaters on April 18, 2008, and in the United Kingdom a week later on April 25, 2008.
Nicholas Stoller is a British-American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the comedy films Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), its spin-off/sequel Get Him to the Greek (2010), The Five-Year Engagement (2012), Neighbors (2014), its sequel Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016), and Bros (2022). He also co-wrote the screenplays for the films Fun with Dick and Jane (2005), Yes Man (2008), The Muppets (2011), its sequel Muppets Most Wanted (2014), and Sex Tape (2014), as well as co-creating the television series The Carmichael Show (2015–2017), Friends from College (2017–2019), and Platonic (2023–present).
I Love You, Man is a 2009 American bromantic comedy film written and directed by John Hamburg, based on a script by Larry Levin. The film stars Paul Rudd as a friendless man looking for a best man for his upcoming wedding. However, his new best friend is straining his relationship with his bride.
This Is 40 is a 2012 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Judd Apatow and starring Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann. A "sort-of sequel" to Apatow's 2007 film Knocked Up, the plot centers on married couple Pete (Rudd) and Debbie (Mann), whose stressful relationship is compounded by each turning 40. John Lithgow, Megan Fox, and Albert Brooks appear in supporting roles.
Ant-Man is a 2015 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics characters of the same name: Scott Lang and Hank Pym. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 12th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Peyton Reed from a screenplay by the writing teams of Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish and Adam McKay & Paul Rudd. It stars Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man alongside Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Peña, Tip "T.I." Harris, Anthony Mackie, Wood Harris, Judy Greer, Abby Ryder Fortson, David Dastmalchian, and Michael Douglas as Hank Pym. In the film, Lang must help defend Pym's Ant-Man shrinking technology and plot a heist with worldwide ramifications.
Ant-Man and the Wasp is a 2018 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the characters Scott Lang / Ant-Man and Hope Pym / Wasp. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the sequel to Ant-Man (2015) and the 20th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Peyton Reed and written by the writing teams of Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, and Paul Rudd, Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari. It stars Rudd as Lang and Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne, alongside Michael Peña, Walton Goggins, Hannah John-Kamen, David Dastmalchian, Tip "T.I." Harris, Judy Greer, Bobby Cannavale, Randall Park, Abby Ryder Fortson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, and Michael Douglas. In the film, the titular pair work with Hank Pym (Douglas) to retrieve Janet van Dyne (Pfeiffer) from the Quantum Realm.
Paul Rudd is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. His career began in 1992 when he played a recurring role in the television series Sisters until 1995. In 1995, he made his film debut opposite Alicia Silverstone in the cult film Clueless, and starred as Tommy Doyle in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers. The following year, he played Dave Paris in Baz Luhrmann's romantic drama Romeo + Juliet. He co-starred in the ensemble comedy film Wet Hot American Summer (2001), and had further comedic roles in Role Models (2008) with Seann William Scott and I Love You, Man (2009) with Jason Segel.
Scott Edward Harris Lang, known commonly by his alias, Ant-Man, is a fictional character portrayed by Paul Rudd in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name He is depicted as a thief-turned-superhero after being granted access to Hank Pym's technology and training, specifically the use of an advanced suit that allows him to change sizes, as well as communicate with ants. He is recruited by Steve Rogers to join the Avengers.
Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is a group of American superhero films produced by Marvel Studios based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. The MCU is the shared universe in which all of the films are set. The phase began in 2013 with the release of Iron Man 3 and concluded in 2015 with the release of Ant-Man. Kevin Feige produced every film in the phase. Joss Whedon served as a consultant on all films as well as writer and director of the crossover film Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a 2023 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the characters Scott Lang / Ant-Man and Hope Pym / Wasp. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the sequel to Ant-Man (2015) and Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), and the 31st film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It was directed by Peyton Reed, written by Jeff Loveness, and stars Paul Rudd as Scott Lang and Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne, alongside Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton, David Dastmalchian, Katy O'Brian, William Jackson Harper, Bill Murray, Michelle Pfeiffer, Corey Stoll, and Michael Douglas. In the film, Lang, Van Dyne, and their family are accidentally transported to the Quantum Realm and face off against Kang the Conqueror (Majors).
Rhinebeck, a historic town in an area that's home to other A-list actors, including Paul Rudd