Biography for
Paul Rudd (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

6 April 1969, Passaic, New Jersey, USA

Birth Name

Paul Stephen Rudd

Nickname

Fred

Height

5' 10" (1.78 m)

Mini Biography

Paul Rudd traveled with his family during his early years because of his father's airline job. He attended Shawnee Mission West High School in Overland Park, Kansas, and then enrolled at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, majoring in theater. He graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts-West in Los Angeles and participated in a three-month intensive workshop under the guidance of Michael Kahn at the British Drama Academy at Oxford University in Britain. Rudd helped to produce the Globe Theater's production of Howard Brenton's "Bloody Poetry," which starred Rudd as Percy Bysshe Shelley.

IMDb Mini Biography By: A. Nonymous

Mini Biography

Paul Stephen Rudd was raised in Overland Park, Kansas. His father is American and his mother is British. He has one sister, who is three years younger than he is. Paul attended Broadmoor Junior High and Shawnee Mission West High School. He graduated from High School in 1987 and was Student Body President. He then attended the University of Kansas to find that he wasn't overly academic. Turning to his native charm and charisma, he applied to, and was accepted at, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, California.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Sean Tevis <stevis@concentric.net>

Spouse

Julie Yaeger

(23 February 2003 - present) 2 children

Trade Mark

Low-key, sardonic sense of humor

Deadpan delivery

Trivia

1998: Began filming on a movie called "Chicken Blood and Other Tales," but production was canceled before it wrapped.

Was disappointed by the final result of Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) because filming had him believing it was going to be a high-caliber suspense film, but the reaction to the film was overwhelmingly negative.

Was classmates with Matthew Lillard at American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Was a DJ at Bar Mitzvahs before his career took off.

2/23/03: Married his girlfriend, Julie Yaeger in upstate New York. They live in Manhattan. As of 2009, they have been together for 14 years.

Prior to joining the cast of "Friends" (1994), he co-starred with Jennifer Aniston in The Object of My Affection (1998).

Attended the University of Kansas.

His favorite music is that of Tom Waits.

His parents were Jewish immigrants from England. Original family surname, "Rudnitzky," was shortened by his grandfather.

He is a self-described "mega-fan" of the TV show "Lost" (2004). He volunteered to interview "Lost" star Emilie de Ravin, whom he has never met, for "Interview Magazine" because of his love for the show.

Has a son with wife Julie Yaeger named Jack Rudd (b. 2006).

Friend of TV writer Rob Thomas and Jon Hamm.

Kansas City Chiefs fan.

Is a member of Sigma Nu Fraternity.

He spray painted his name on Shawnee Mission West High School's stage wall. Another ex-Shawnee Mission West student was Jason Sudeikis.

Came up with the idea of the "Kelly Clarkson!" call-out during 'Steve Carell''s infamous chest wax in The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005).

As part of a running gag during his appearances on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" (1993), Rudd often brought a clip from the film Mac and Me (1988) where the wheelchair-bound Eric (Jade Calegory) flies off a cliff while Mac watches on, instead of showing clips from the actual movie he is there to promote. The only exception was when he came to promote Knocked Up (2007). Judd Apatow showed up specifically to make sure Rudd wouldn't do it.

Improvised the "You know how I know you're gay?" sequence in The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005) with Seth Rogen.

While on "Kevin Pollak's Chat Show" (2009), Rudd told Kevin Pollak that when Rudd was a freshman theater student at the University of Kansas, he appeared in a highly experimental production of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in which there were two different actors playing a "good" Macbeth and a "bad" Macbeth; Rudd played the "good" Macbeth. Many years later, while he was auditioning to appear in the original production of "Bash: Latter-Day Plays", he learned that the play's author, Neil LaBute, had seen that "Macbeth" while LaBute was a graduate student at KU; Rudd was worried that LaBute would make the connection between Rudd and that "Macbeth" and would no longer want him to be in the play. They later became friends and frequent collaborators.

Was billed under his full name, "Paul Stephen Rudd," in his early roles, as there was already an actor in the Screen Actors Guild who took the name "Paul Rudd".

Avid fan of the Kansas City Royals baseball team. Threw out the first pitch before a game with the cross-state rival St. Louis Cardinals on June 22, 2012.

Paul's parents were both from London (UK), his dad from the Edgware district and his mom from the Surbiton area of south west London.

Personal Quotes

Theater is the most enriching and thrilling thing to do as an actor. It trumps movies and all that other stuff. People say, "You must love the instant feedback," and we're all attention whores for sure - that's why we choose this profession. But it goes beyond that: There's something magical about a shared experience in a theater, with actors and an audience. I don't know if the audience members realize just how huge a part they play in a production. How they are determines how we are, and when it all works, it's magical.

There's a feeling of enrichment and challenge when it comes to doing a play, and especially doing, you know, a classical play or a tragic play. In a way, it works a different set of muscles, I guess. But I do love it, and I love great writing, whatever it is, and there are so many great plays, and a lot of the writing in a lot of plays is just stellar, and no one is making movies like that, or if they are, I'm certainly not getting cast in them. But you know, working on a comedy with your friends. Like, I would say that with Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) and The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005) and Wet Hot American Summer (2001), I was working with people who are completely inspiring. I love being around that company, and I try and step up to the level of their game.

I can, and do, walk the street. No one bothers me or anything, because most people wouldn't know who I am.

When I was doing The Shape of Things (2003), which we'd done as a play, it was just so tired by the time we rolled tape.

I think there's something great and generic about goldfish. They're everybody's first pet.

[on Clueless (1995)] It's really cool being in a movie that I think was a seminal movie for a lot of kids. When we were shooting it, we all hoped that [Clueless] would fall into that kind of pantheon of movies like John Hughes made, or that really struck a chord with us when we were teenagers - and that years after it was released that we all kind of felt that it had. It actually had achieved that status for a lot of people. What a cool thing it is to be involved in something that attains that level of importance in a lot of kids' lives. So, keeping that in mind, I certainly don't tire talking about that if people want to hear about it. It isn't one of those things where it's like, "I've moved past that! I've done other things!" I don't feel that way about anything. I've done good and bad. I tend to be like, "Oh, ask me about something that I was in whether it was something that was good or something that was just terrible." I'll talk about either of them freely.

[on the role of "Ned" in Our Idiot Brother (2011)] I think this character is actually very smart. [He] is living his life the way he wants to. People call him an idiot because he's loving and he's sincere. But he made the decision to be that way and, if he can do it, maybe others can rise to the occasion.

I don't consider myself a comedian because I don't really concern myself too much with jokes. I think I've dealt with any kind of trauma in my life with humor, and I was a fan of comedians and comedy growing up. I still am. But I never had that thing where, after 'Anchorman' or something, I was 'Okay, now I want to play a serial killer' or 'Now I want to do something totally different'. That seemed kind of false to me.

A movie like I Love You, Man (2009) is certainly a comedy. But a lot of the humor just derives from awkwardness ,insecurity and discomfort - all stuff I relate to. It's a real thing, and it's not funny to me when I'm feeling it in real life. And it's not funny to the character when he's experiencing that in the movie.

Where Are They Now

(March 2004) Doing clothing ads for Perry Ellis' clothes.

(April 2006) On Broadway doing the revival of Richard Greenberg's "Three Days of Rain" with Julia Roberts and Bradley Cooper.

(November 2008) Starred in Role Models (2008) with Seann William Scott.

(2009) Starring in I Love You, Man (2009), with Jason Segel and Andy Samberg.

(April 2009) Attended the VIP screening of I Love You, Man (2009) at the Soho Hotel in London, England on April 8th.

(January 2009) Attended the premiere of Role Models (2008) at the Pathe De Munt Cinema in Amsterdam, Netherlands on January 16th.