Line #8 Creator/PaulRudd


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/paul_rudd.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[WebVideo/HotOnes "Hey, look at us. Who would've thought?"]]]]
3
4	[floatboxright: Genres:
5	+ {{Farce}}, {{Parody}}, RomanticComedy, SexComedy, {{Satire}}
6	]
7
8	Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor, screenwriter, and producer born in Passaic, UsefulNotes/NewJersey.
9
10	If you're watching one of his movies, there's a good chance that he's playing either a {{jerkass}}, the {{only sane man}}, or some combination thereof. Creator/JuddApatow likes working with him, as do the ''Series/{{Stella\|US}}'' guys. Between them all, he's appeared in nearly every major American comedy produced in the past two decades, including ''Film/WetHotAmericanSummer'', ''Film/TheFortyYearOldVirgin'', ''Film/KnockedUp'', ''Film/ForgettingSarahMarshall'', and ''Film/ILoveYouMan''.
11
12	In 2015, Rudd officially joined the ranks of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse when he debuted as [[ComicBook/AntMan Scott Lang / Ant-Man]] in his film [[Film/AntMan1 of the same name]]. He has since reprised the role in several MCU films, including two more Ant-Man films where he co-stars alongside Creator/EvangelineLilly's [[ComicBook/TheWasp Hope van Dyne / The Wasp]]. For his involvement in the screenplays of the first two ''Ant-Man'' films, he's (to date) the only MCU actor who has done co-writing work on their own solo films.
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14	He was also named Sexiest Man Alive by ''People'' in 2021.
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16	Not to be confused with the (similarly named) actor and comedian Paul Rugg, or the late actor Paul Kenneth Rudd (1940–2010).
17	----
18	!! Selected filmography:
19	* ''{{Series/Sisters}}'' (1993 -- 1995): Kirby
20	* ''Film/HalloweenTheCurseOfMichaelMyers'' (1995) as Tommy Doyle
21	* ''Film/{{Clueless}}'' (1995) as Josh
22	* ''Film/WilliamShakespearesRomeoAndJuliet'' (1996) as Dave Paris
23	* ''Film/OvernightDelivery'' (1998) as Wyatt Trips
24	* ''Film/TheObjectOfMyAffection'' (1998) as George Hanson
25	* ''Literature/TheCiderHouseRules'' (1999) as Wally Worthington
26	* ''Film/WetHotAmericanSummer'' (2001) as Andy
27	** ''Series/WetHotAmericanSummerFirstDayOfCamp'' (2015)
28	* ''Series/{{Friends}}'' (2002 -- 2004) as Mike Hannigan
29	* ''Theatre/TheShapeOfThings'' (2003) as Adam Sorenson
30	* ''Film/AnchormanTheLegendOfRonBurgundy'' (2004) as Brian Fantana
31	** ''Film/Anchorman2TheLegendContinues'' (2013)
32	* ''Film/TheFortyYearOldVirgin'' (2005) as David
33	* ''Film/NightAtTheMuseum'' (2006) as Don
34	* ''Film/TheEx'' (2006) as Leon
35	* ''Series/{{Reno 911}}'' (2006 -- 2007) as Guy Gerricault
36	* ''Film/KnockedUp'' (2007) as Pete
37	** ''Film/ThisIs40'' (2012)
38	* ''Film/WalkHardTheDeweyCoxStory'' (2007) as Music/JohnLennon
39	* ''Film/ICouldNeverBeYourWoman'' (2007) as Adam Pearl
40	* ''Film/OverHerDeadBody'' (2008) as Dr. Henry Mills
41	* ''Film/ForgettingSarahMarshall'' (2008) as Chuck
42	* ''Film/RoleModels'' (2008) as Danny Donahue
43	* ''Film/ILoveYouMan'' (2009) as Peter Klaven
44	* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens'' (2009) as Derek Dietl (voice)
45	* ''Film/YearOne'' (2010) as Abel
46	* ''Film/DinnerForSchmucks'' (2010) as Tim Conrad
47	* ''Film/OurIdiotBrother'' (2011) as Ned
48	* ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' (2012, 2015, 2020) as Bobby Newport
49	* ''Literature/ThePerksOfBeingAWallflower'' (2012) as Bill Anderson
50	* ''Film/ThisIsTheEnd'' (2013) {{as himself}}
51	* ''Film/{{Admission}}'' (2013) as John
52	* ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Prince\|2015}}'' (2015) as Mr. Prince (voice)
53	* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse (2015 -- present) as [[ComicBook/AntMan Scott Lang / Ant-Man]]:
54	** ''Film/AntMan1'' (2015)
55	** ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' (2016)
56	** ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'' (2018)
57	** ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' (2019)
58	** ''[[WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021 What If...?]]'' (2021)
59	** ''Film/AntManAndTheWaspQuantumania'' (2023)
60	* ''Film/TheFundamentalsOfCaring'' (2016) as Ben
61	* ''WesternAnimation/SausageParty'' (2016) as Darren (voice)
62	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Nerdland}}'' (2016) as John (voice)
63	* ''Film/TheCatcherWasASpy'' (2018) as Moe Berg
64	* ''Film/AFutileAndStupidGesture'' (2018) as Lawrence “Larry” Kroger
65	* ''Film/{{Mute\|2018}}'' (2018) as Cactus Bill
66	* ''Film/IdealHome'' (2018) as Paul Morgan
67	* ''Series/LivingWithYourself'' (2019) as [[ActingForTwo Miles Elliot and his clone]]
68	* ''Series/HomeMovieThePrincessBride'' (2020) as Westley
69	* ''Film/GhostbustersAfterlife'' (2021) as Mr. Grooberson
70	** ''Film/GhostbustersFrozenEmpire'' (2024)
71	* ''Film/{{Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers\|2022}}'' (2022) AsHimself
72	* ''Series/OnlyMurdersInTheBuilding'' (2022-2023) as Ben Glenroy
73	* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMutantMayhem'' (2023) as Mondo Gecko (voice)
74
75	!! Other credits
76	* Reads the audiobook version of ''Literature/MoreInformationThanYouRequire''... but is quickly taken over by John Hodgman.
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78	----
79	!!His career provides examples of:
80	* ActingForTwo: He plays both Miles Elliot and his clone in ''Series/LivingWithYourself''.
81	* TheCastShowoff: He's a fantastic dancer, and directors like to work it into the film if they can.
82	* DeadpanSnarker: Many of his roles, particularly in his early career, have him playing these parts.
83	* DyeingForYourArt: Like the other MCU leading men before him, he got absolutely ripped in order to play Scott Lang in ''Film/AntMan1''. The costumers had to actually remove a lot of the padding in the Ant-Man suit because he got muscular enough, after the initial fitting, for the definition to naturally show without the need for fake musculature.
84	* InNameOnly: His adaptation of ''Admission'' appears to be a RomCom with some gross-out humor. The novel it is based on is fairly dramatic with a romantic subplot. Half the scenes in the trailer do not appear in the novel, and an entire subplot seems to have disappeared. The trailer also leaves off the main plot of the novel, which is not terrible since the novel doesn't really get to that plot until 400 pages in.
85	* MemeAcknowledgement:
86	** He is well aware of the famous meme of Creator/MarkRuffalo fanboying over him when he saw Rudd and excitedly started mouthing ''“Is that Paul Rudd?”''. Rudd even [[http://www.ladbible.com/entertainment/film-and-tv-paul-rudd-and-mark-ruffalo-recreated-an-avengers-red-carpet-meme-20180501 recreated the meme]] by sneaking up behind Ruffalo, who was giving a red carpet interview and mouthed ''“Oh my God, it's Mark Ruffalo!”''
87	** He's also referenced the popular crack-theory about ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', that basically claims Thanos would be defeated by Ant-man [[AssShove crawling inside his ass and expanding.]] He agreed it was a lost opportunity.
88	** A fan spotted Rudd on her flight and tried but failed to muster up the courage to ask him "[[WebVideo/HotOnes Hey, look at us. Who would've thought?]]" to see if he'd respond with "Not me!" and just told him she considered it. She eventually ran into him again to which he responded with "Hey, look at us. Who would've thought?"
89	* MoneyDearBoy: He's very frank about how he's worked on some poor quality projects, like ''Over Her Dead Body'' and ''Overnight Delivery'', because he needed the money. This trope even resulted in him flying to Hong Kong on short notice to play an over-the-top bleached-blond FBI agent in ''Gen-Y Cops''.
90	* NiceGuy: Many of his recent roles have him play sweet-natured, charming and generally very likable characters. TruthInTelevision too.
91	* OlderThanTheyLook: Looks more or less the same now as he did in the 90's and is the source of many comments about how he doesn't seem to age.
92	* OldShame: He's not exactly thrilled to talk about some of his older projects, such as ''Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers''.
93	* OverlyLongGag: The infamous "''Film/MacAndMe'' [[Creator/ConanOBrien Conan]] Bit", as described below. For those keeping track, he kept the joke going for ''nearly twenty years.''
94	* PlayingAgainstType:
95	** He normally does comedies, so nobody knew how he could pull off a superhero in ''Film/AntMan1''. He was actually very good at it. Though while the genre may be different, the character is still close enough to [[DownplayedTrope what he's used to]].
96	** He starred in the original run of ''{{Theatre/Bash}}'' playing a JerkJock who beat a gay man to death ForTheEvulz.
97	* ProductionPosse: Has the distinction, along with Creator/ElizabethBanks and Creator/KenJeong, of being in both the Creator/JuddApatow and David Wain posses.
98	* RunningGag: Whenever he promoted a movie on on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' or on ''Conan'' (post-2010), he'd replace the clip of the movie he's supposed to be promoting with the runaway wheelchair scene from ''Film/MacAndMe''. He did this so often that Conan would ask him not to, he would earnestly promise that he hadn't this time, [[http://mashable.com/2015/07/17/paul-rudd-conan-o-brien/#2kMCNb2Llkqn and then...]]
99	* StarMakingRole: ''Film/ILoveYouMan'' as a leading man. He was known previously for supporting roles in films such as ''Film/{{Clueless}}'' and ''Film/AnchormanTheLegendOfRonBurgundy''.
100	* ThoseTwoActors: He's been in several movies with Creator/ElizabethBanks, Creator/JenniferAniston, Creator/ReeseWitherspoon, Creator/JasonSegel, and Creator/JaneaneGarofalo.
101	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: He and his ''Anchorman'' and ''40-Year-Old Virgin'' castmate Creator/SteveCarell were originally slated to star in ''Party Down'', but after the project was shelved multiple times and both of their careers exploded, the roles were eventually recast.
102	* WrittenByCastMember: He co-wrote ''Film/RoleModels'' and did re-writes on ''Film/AntMan1''.

Context Creator / PaulRudd