Paul Rudd | Biography, Actor, Films, Plays, Marvel, & Facts | Britannica

Career

The breakthrough for his film career came with the role of the elder stepbrother in the teen comedy Clueless (1995). He then left Los Angeles for New York City, making his Broadway debut in the acclaimed The Last Night of Ballyhoo (1997–98); he would continue to live in New York, landing theater roles while simultaneously growing his film career. He had small parts in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) and in Romeo + Juliet (1996), with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, and played a more serious role as the gay best friend in the film The Object of My Affection (1998), opposite Jennifer Aniston.

Rudd’s other early films were an eclectic mix of genres, including the coming-of-age drama The Cider House Rules (1999), a science fiction action movie Gen-Y Cops (2000) made in Hong Kong, and the indie film The Château (2001). Despite its commercial failings, Wet Hot American Summer (2001) became a cult classic; Rudd would later appear in its long-awaited prequel Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, a made-for-TV miniseries, in 2015. In 2003 Rudd married publicist and screenwriter Julie Yaeger, and they had two children.

Often cast as a charismatic everyman, Rudd became a fan favorite in his recurring role as Mike Hannigan, Phoebe Buffay’s love interest, in the final two seasons (2002–04) of the popular sitcom Friends. His first collaboration with director and producer Judd Apatow and actors Will Ferrell and Steve Carell, in the madcap hit Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), proved to be an important step in Rudd’s film career. Rudd would go on to work with Apatow in a number of other comedies, including The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) with Carell, Knocked Up (2007), This Is 40 (2012), and Wanderlust (2012), which he coproduced. He worked again with Carell in Dinner for Schmucks (2010) and with Carell and Ferrell in the unsuccessful Anchorman sequel Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013).

Rudd’s other notable films included Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008); Role Models (2008), for which he cowrote the screenplay; I Love You, Man (2009); Our Idiot Brother (2011); The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012); Prince Avalanche (2013); They Came Together (2014); The Fundamentals of Caring (2016); and Ideal Home (2018).

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Among his theater credits were a major production of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (1998); the Off-Broadway premiere of Neil LaBute’s Bash: Latter-Day Plays (1999), with Calista Flockhart; a Broadway production of Richard Greenberg’s Three Days of Rain (2006), with Julia Roberts and Bradley Cooper; and a Broadway production of Craig Wright’s Grace (2012–13).

His career took a major turn when he was asked to play wisecracking Scott Lang, the hero of Marvel’s Ant-Man (2015). Rudd earned writing credits for the film and its sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), in which he also starred. He reprised the role for battle scenes in Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), which became the highest-grossing superhero movie in history. He and various others of his Avengers costars were among the top 10 highest-paid actors in 2019. He was also cast in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, released in 2023.

Known for his striking green eyes and seemingly ageless appearance, Rudd was named People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2021. That same year he was the executive producer for the Netflix miniseries Living with Yourself, a comedy-drama in which he starred, and he collaborated again with Ferrell to produce and star in a dark miniseries drama, The Shrink Next Door. Rudd earned a coveted spot in the so-called “Five-Timers Club” for his fifth appearance as host of Saturday Night Live during its season finale in December 2021, where he joined other five-time SNL hosts Tom Hanks and Tina Fey.

Quick Facts In full: Paul Stephen Rudd (Show more) Born: April 6, 1969, Passaic, New Jersey (age 56) (Show more) Married To: Julie Rudd (2003–present) (Show more) Movies/Tv Shows (Acted In): "The Château" (2001) "Friends" (2002–2004) "They Came Together" (2014) "Ideal Home" (2018) "Wild Oats" (1994) "Knocked Up" (2007) "At Home with Amy Sedaris" (2020) "Burning Love" (2013) "Sisters" (1992–1995) "Between Two Ferns: The Movie" (2019) "The Cider House Rules" (1999) "The Ex" (2006) "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" (2004) "Role Models" (2008) "Little Britain USA" (2008) "Our Idiot Brother" (2011) "The Fundamentals of Caring" (2016) "Prince Avalanche" (2013) "Tennis, Anyone...?" (2005) "Moone Boy" (2015) "Deadline" (2000) "Clueless" (1995) "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" (2008) "Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp" (2015) "The Ten" (2007) "Wainy Days" (2008) "WHIH News Front" (2015) "The Shape of Things" (2003) "The Greatest Event in Television History" (2012–2014) "Reaching Normal" (2001) "Monsters vs. Aliens" (2009) "Living with Yourself" (2019) "Over Her Dead Body" (2008) "Night at the Museum" (2006) "The Oh in Ohio" (2006) "Two Days" (2003) "Captain America: Civil War" (2016) "Home Movie: The Princess Bride" (2020) "The Size of Watermelons" (1996) "Neon Joe, Werewolf Hunter" (2015) "Robot Chicken" (2006) "Strangers with Candy" (2000) "Conan" (2018–2019) "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" (2012) "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers" (1995) "P.S." (2004) "I Love You, Man" (2009) "Nerdland" (2016) "A Question of Ethics" (1992) "The Object of My Affection" (1998) "This Is 40" (2012) "Mute" (2018) "Hudson Valley Ballers" (2013) "The Fire Next Time" (1993) "TripTank" (2014) "Saturday Night Live: Cut For Time" (2019) "Te jing xin ren lei 2" (2000) "The Little Prince" (2015) "Romeo + Juliet" (1996) "The Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show" (2007) "The 40 Year Old Virgin" (2005) "The Daily Show" (2005) "Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later" (2017) "Reno 911!: Miami" (2007) "Fun Mom Dinner" (2017) "Avengers: Endgame" (2019) "Wet Hot American Summer" (2001) "Dinner for Schmucks" (2010) "Rebel Highway" (1994) "Clueless" (1996) "Veronica Mars" (2007) "Cheap Seats: Without Ron Parker" (2006) "How Do You Know" (2010) "I Could Never Be Your Woman" (2007) "Sausage Party" (2016) "All Is Bright" (2013) "The Catcher Was a Spy" (2018) "Nightcap" (2017) "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues" (2013) "200 Cigarettes" (1999) "Ant-Man" (2015) "Stella" (2005) "Diggers" (2006) "Reno 911!" (2006–2007) "Parks and Recreation" (2012–2020) "The Simpsons" (2011–2014) "Admission" (2013) "The Locusts" (1997) "Ant-Man and the Wasp" (2018) "The Baxter" (2005) "This Is the End" (2013) "Wanderlust" (2012) "Louie" (2012) "Bob's Burgers" (2016) (Show more) Movies/Tv Shows (Writing/Creator): "Ant-Man and the Wasp" (2018) "Ant-Man" (2015) "Role Models" (2008) "Party Down" (2009–2010) (Show more) See all related content Show More

Rudd’s other credits from 2021 include Ghostbusters: Afterlife, an installment in the popular comedy franchise about scientists investigating paranormal activity. He reprised his role as Gary Grooberson in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024). During this time Rudd also portrayed an egotistical actor in the third season (2023) of Only Murders in the Building, a popular Hulu series starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez. In 2025 he shared the screen with Jack Black in the action-comedy Anaconda.