Actor Spotlight: Paul Rudd
Life is good for Mr. Rudd right now
We weren’t able to get this edition out last week, so we’re dropping it on a Tuesday for you!
Paul Rudd is having a hell of a couple weeks. His beloved Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl last Sunday, and he was on the field after the game with his son Jack to celebrate. Opening in theaters last weekend was Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the latest Marvel installment to star Rudd’s Ant-Man character.
You’d be hard pressed to find many people that aren’t happy to see Paul Rudd winning like this. He’s one of those movie stars with an absurdly high approval rating. Making his film debut in 1995’s Clueless, Rudd is the rare funny guy that was able to transition effortlessly into an MCU superhero staple. He’s equally good leading a comedy as he is popping up as a hilarious side character, not to mention his stellar TV work in Friends, Parks and Recreation, and others.
There’s just something about the way he can deliver a line that knocks us out. Here’s a couple of our favorite Paul Rudd character quotes along with the usual movie recommendations for his big week.
Billy recommends…
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
“Oh yeah, you’re that guy that works with Kaiser Permanente.”
Forgetting Sarah Marshall has aged the best out of the Apatow era comedies. Not necessarily my favorite but a comedy that has no weak links and the laughs come from everywhere. The highlight of these smaller characters is Paul Rudd as Kunu/Chuck, a dim and simple surf instructor who uses his simplicity to help Peter (Jason Segel) talk his way through his feelings after his break-up with Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell).
Paul Rudd has beautifully slithered in and out of small character roles with a leading man capability throughout his career. He is a quintessential example of an actor that makes every project better. If the movie is bad at least he’s there and if the movie is good or great there is a good chance he is one of the top reasons. In Forgetting Sarah Marshall he is being his most Paul Ruddiest and it is absolutely magnificent.
While Rudd stands out as a supporting character he is one of the many reasons Forgetting Sarah Marshall still works. Jason Segel writes and stars in this breakout role. Making it clear he is not just a sitcom star. Young Kristen Bell and Mika Kunis foreshadow maybe our two most successful commercial comedic actresses of the late 2000s and 2010s. And a budget eta squad of supporting actors who almost all came to be A-Listers: Paul Rudd, Jonah Hill, Russell Brand, Kristen Wiig, and Bill Hader… This is like the comedy version of Working Girl where two years later there is no way they could afford all of them. Rudd is one of our most wonderful gifts in the entertainment industry and nothing makes me smile more in his career than his role as Kunu.
Available to rent on digital platforms
Drew recommends…
I Love You, Man
“Muscle Beach. Half an hour. I will see you there or I will see you on another time.”
Paul Rudd is the main reason why this 2009 bromance is one of the more underrated comedies of that decade. I Love You, Man stars Rudd as Peter Klaven, a sensitive and good-hearted guy that never had many male friends. When he gets engaged to Zooey (Rashida Jones), he realizes that he doesn’t really have anyone to be his best man, so he sets out to find one. Enter Jason Segel’s Sydney, a free-living bachelor who becomes Peter’s friend and tries to teach him a thing or two.
I Love You, Man is the best Judd Apatow comedy that isn’t actually an Apatow movie. It’s a solidly written bromance that works mostly because of the well-matched charisma of Rudd and Segel, who couldn’t be more ideally cast as Peter and Sydney. Rudd plays up the inherent awkwardness that comes with making new guy friends for many men. Peter is constantly overreaching or doing too much when he should be more chill like Sydney. On the other hand, Sydney’s devil-may-care attitude gets both of them into trouble more than a few times. Rudd and Segel know exactly how to calibrate their performances between humor and pathos. There’s several hilarious scenes and moments, but you also leave the movie feeling like you experienced the satisfying arc of a burgeoning friendship.
I Love You, Man is filled out with funny supporting work from Andy Samberg, J.K. Simmons, Jaime Pressly, Jon Favreau, and more (plus, some enjoyable and very specific jokes about Rush, Lou Ferrigno, and Anwar Sadat), but Rudd is front and center for almost the whole movie. After years of very funny minor characters in Anchorman, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, it was a joy to see Paul Rudd living in the limelight so confidently.
Available to rent on digital platforms
I think of “fuck the lemons and bail” at least once a month.
Love this tribute to him!