Best Known As: The Clueless guy who married Phoebe on Friends
Comedic actor Paul Rudd's boyish charm has made him a popular sidekick in the movies since he first broke through as Alicia Silverstone's stepbrother Josh in the 1995 hit Clueless. A Kansas City kid, he got into the movies by way of commercials and television; before Clueless Rudd was a regular on the sitcom Sisters between 1992 and 1995. A little too hunky to be the goof and a little too goofy to be the hunk, Rudd has often played the smart-aleck pal to lead players. Although he's appeared in dramas, including 1996's Romeo + Juliet (with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes) and 1999's The Cider House Rules, Rudd is best known for comedy. He's been in the feature films Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004, starring Will Ferrell), The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005, starring Steve Carell) and Night at the Museum (2006, starring Ben Stiller). On the small screen he appeared in several episodes of Friends, ending the show in 2004 as husband to Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow). Since 2007 Rudd has been on a roll, as part of a Judd Apatow crew that includes Seth Rogen and Jason Segel. He co-starred with Rogen in Knocked Up (2007), then appeared with Segel in Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) and I Love You, Man (2009). Rudd also wrote and starred in Role Models (2008, with Christopher Mintz-Plasse).
Rudd is an Apatow regular who was not in the 1999 TV series Freaks and Geeks... He has a running gag with Conan O'Brien's show -- when he shows up to promote a new movie Rudd shows a clip from the 1988 movie Mac and Me instead.
Career Highlights: The Object of My Affection, Clueless, The Cider House Rules
First Major Screen Credit: Runaway Daughters (1994)
Biography
Displaying the type of understated, dark-eyed good looks that make him a natural candidate for an art house pinup, Paul Rudd impressed filmgoers throughout the latter half of the 1990s with his talent for turning in performances marked by thoughtful insight and an unassuming charisma. Since his turn as Alicia Silverstone's endearingly self-righteous stepbrother in the 1995 film Clueless, Rudd has enjoyed a sort of low-key fame that has allowed him to branch out both in film and on the stage.
The son of British-born parents, Rudd came into the world via Passaic, NJ, on April 6, 1969. Because of his father's job in the airline industry, Rudd and his family traveled a great deal, eventually settling in Kansas City, KS. After graduating from high school, Rudd attended the University of Kansas, where he majored in theater. Following his graduation, he was accepted as a student at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts/West in Los Angeles. His studies there led to a three-month theater workshop at Oxford University's British Drama Academy, where he was tutored by the producer and editor Michael Kahn. During his time in England, Rudd also co-produced the Globe Theatre's Bloody Poetry, in which he starred as the poet Percy Shelley, and then performed the title role of Hamlet, in a production directed by Ben Kingsley.
Back in the States, Rudd made his television debut in 1992, in the series Sisters. As Ashley Judd's boyfriend Kirbie Philby, Rudd stayed with the show until 1995. During this time, he also appeared in other television productions, including the short-lived series Wild Oats (1994). In 1995, he made his big-screen debut in Amy Heckerling's Clueless, a film that met with a lavish dose of unanticipated success. Although much of the limelight was reserved for the film's star Alicia Silverstone, Rudd also received a fair amount of press, as well as the adulation of a new generation of fans who warmed to the actor's unconventional appeal. The same year, he played the lead in the sixth Halloween installment, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers.
The year 1996 proved to be one of hits and misses, as it included his leading part in the straight-to-video Overnight Delivery, co-starring Reese Witherspoon, and the highly successful William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, in which he played against type as the arrogant Dave Paris. The same year, Rudd starred in the obscure but critically praised Canadian independent The Size of Watermelons, before going on to make the equally obscure, critically trashed The Locusts (1997). Theatrically, however, 1997 provided positive experience in the form of a Broadway production of Alfred Uhry's The Last Night of Ballyhoo, in which Rudd had a lead role. There were further positive experiences for Rudd in 1998, as in addition to his principal role in the well-received The Object of My Affection, he starred in the high-profile Lincoln Center production of Twelfth Night, which co-starred Helen Hunt and was directed by Nicholas Hytner, his Object director. Rudd continued his theater work the following year, with Neil LaBute's Bash, an off-Broadway show that also featured Calista Flockhart and Ron Eldard. In addition, he had a starring role in 200 Cigarettes, a film remarkable for both its enviable ensemble cast (including Christina Ricci, Ben Affleck, and Martha Plimpton) and the overwhelmingly desultory reviews it received. However, even the most savage of critics were able to single out Rudd for praise, further reflecting the actor's ability to make a favorable impression in even the most unfavorable of films.
After a turn as Nick Caraway in a made-for-television adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Rudd showed off his ability pull off broad-comedy in the largely improvised 2001 parody film Wet Hot American Summer. He changed gears considerably for his next project, The Shape of Things which saw him reteam with director LaBute.
In 2004, Rudd again flexed his skills as a comedic scene-stealer with a supporting role in the 70s-era Will Ferrell vehicle Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Keenly aware that he was very much on to a good thing, Rudd kept the laughs coming in Tennis, Anyone...? and The Baxter before hitting yet another comedy homerun in the 2005 Steve Carrell comedy The 40 Year Old Virgin. Though he may have failed to deliver the goods to Parker Posey in the little-seen indie comedy The OH in Ohio, Rudd's supporting role in director Amy Heckerling's I Could Never Be Your Woman proved he was still very much dedicated to cracking audiences up. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
As part of a running gag during his appearances on Late Night With Conan O'Brien, Rudd brings clips from the infamous film Mac and Me, where the wheelchair-bound Eric (Jade Calegory) flies off a cliff while Mac watches on, instead of showing clips from the actual film he is there to promote.[8][9]
