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The Best of PAUL RUDD!

There are certain performers who seem almost universally beloved, and Paul Rudd is one of them. Let me start with a simple question: do you know anybody who doesn't like Paul Rudd? Seriously, I don't think I've ever met anyone who dislikes the guy.


Everybody likes Paul Rudd. Men like him, women like him, movie fans like him, television fans like him, comedy nerds like him, superhero fans like him. He has somehow managed to build a career spanning more than three decades without becoming the subject of any real controversy, while maintaining a reputation as one of the nicest, funniest, and most genuinely likable people in show business.


Of course, there's also the fact that he apparently stopped aging sometime around 1997. At this point it's become one of the longest-running jokes in popular culture. Paul Rudd is 57 years old, and somehow he still looks like a guy who just graduated from college and is figuring out what he's going to do with his life. It's ridiculous. It's unfair. And yet every time he shows up in a movie or on a talk show, there he is looking exactly the same.


The joke has become so famous that it was even referenced in Deadpool & Wolverine. At this point Paul Rudd's age-defying appearance has become as much a part of his public image as his incredible sense of humor.


What I love most about Paul Rudd is that while he is best known as a comedian, he's actually much more versatile than people often give him credit for. Yes, he's one of the funniest performers working today.


Yes, he's part of that incredible generation of comedy talent that emerged from the Judd Apatow universe. But he's also a terrific dramatic actor. He can carry a romantic comedy. He can play dark, complicated characters. He can do action. He can do broad physical comedy. He can do independent films, giant blockbusters, weird experimental projects, television, voice work, and stage work.


The guy can do just about anything.


His résumé is astonishing when you really stop and look at it. We're talking about 146 acting credits spread across more than thirty years. He broke through with Clueless, which remains one of the defining comedies of the 1990s and features one of his most charming performances.


He was part of the Halloween franchise very early in his career in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers. He became a key member of the Friends family as Mike Hannigan, one of the few characters who could step into that world late in the series and immediately feel like he belonged. He became a regular on Parks and Recreation, hosted Saturday Night Live multiple times, and built a reputation as one of the most reliable and funniest hosts the show has ever had.


Then there are the movie franchises. He's part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Ant-Man. He's part of the Ghostbusters universe. He's a huge part of the Wet Hot American Summer phenomenon.


He has worked with some of the funniest people alive, from Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen to Amy Poehler, Jason Segel, Steve Carell, Will Ferrell, and the entire gang that has dominated American screen comedy for the last twenty-five years. And somehow, even when he's surrounded by incredibly funny people, he always stands out.


One of the reasons people love Paul Rudd so much is that he seems completely game for anything. Watch him on a talk show and you'll understand exactly what I mean. He'll sing, dance, tell ridiculous stories, participate in absurd comedy bits, and make himself the butt of the joke without hesitation.


His appearances with Conan O'Brien have become legendary because of one of the greatest running gags in television history. Every single time Paul Rudd appeared on Conan's show to promote a new movie, the audience expected to see an exclusive clip from whatever project he was plugging.


Instead, Rudd would somehow trick everybody into watching the same ridiculous clip from the notoriously awful 1988 movie Mac and Me. The joke went on for decades and somehow got funnier every single time...and it is also featured at the top of this blog post.


That's Paul Rudd in a nutshell. He understands comedy. He understands timing. Most importantly, he never seems to take himself too seriously.


The thing is, behind all of that charm and all of those laughs is a genuinely gifted actor. Some of my favorite Paul Rudd performances aren't necessarily the obvious ones.


I absolutely love his work in Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things, a brutally dark and uncomfortable examination of relationships that gave him an opportunity to show dramatic muscles that many audiences didn't know he possessed. It's one of the performances that made me realize there was much more going on beneath the easygoing comic persona.


At the same time, I can never resist revisiting his work in Clueless, where he helped create one of the most iconic characters of the decade. Then there are films like Role Models, I Love You, Man, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Our Idiot Brother, and countless others that demonstrate just how naturally funny he is.


Even in movies that don't work, he's usually the best thing about them. And believe me, with 146 credits, there are definitely a few bad movies mixed in there. Every actor has them. But Paul Rudd has an uncanny ability to emerge from even mediocre material with his reputation intact because he's almost always enjoyable to watch.


The reason I'm thinking about all of this now is because of Power Ballad, the solid new John Carney film currently in theaters. It's another reminder of how much range Rudd actually has. The performance isn't built entirely around jokes. It's thoughtful, layered, emotional, and surprisingly moving.


It's one of those performances that reminds audiences that while Paul Rudd may be one of the funniest actors alive, comedy is only one part of what makes him special.


Whether he's appearing in a giant Marvel blockbuster, a quirky independent film, a television comedy, a prestige drama, or a bizarre cult movie, Paul Rudd always brings intelligence, warmth, and an effortless charm to the screen.


He's one of those performers whose presence immediately makes a project more enjoyable. He has been doing it consistently for over thirty years, and somehow he remains just as fresh and entertaining today as he was when he first showed up in Clueless.


So in honor of one of the most likable, talented, and consistently entertaining performers working today, and inspired by his fine work in Power Ballad, I thought it would be fun to count down my ten favorite Paul Rudd movie performances.


This wasn't easy. The man has done a lot of great work over the years. But I've narrowed it down to ten favorites, presented in chronological order.


Here are my favorite Paul Rudd performances on film.



MY TOP 10 FAVORITE PAUL RUDD PERFORMANCES (in chronological order):



This is where most of us first discovered Paul Rudd, and what an introduction it was. Amy Heckerling's Clueless is one of the defining comedies of the 1990s, a brilliant modernization of Jane Austen's Emma, and Rudd is absolutely perfect as Josh, the smart, sarcastic, endlessly patient former stepbrother of Alicia Silverstone's Cher.


What makes the performance so great is how effortlessly charming he is. He never pushes for laughs. He never tries too hard. He simply exists as the grounded center of a movie filled with colorful characters and outrageous personalities. Even thirty years later, Josh remains one of the great romantic-comedy leading men. This was the beginning of Paul Rudd's movie career, and right out of the gate he displayed the easy charisma that would make him a star.


I have always had a soft spot for 200 Cigarettes. It's messy, uneven, overloaded with characters, and completely charming. Set during a New Year's Eve celebration in 1981, the movie is packed with an incredible cast, but Paul Rudd stands out as Kevin, one half of a hilariously dysfunctional couple opposite the fantastic Courtney Love.


The chemistry between the two is terrific, and Rudd demonstrates his gift for playing lovable screwups who mean well but somehow always manage to make things worse. The movie has become a cult favorite over the years, and Rudd's performance is one of the big reasons why. He captures the awkwardness, insecurity, and confusion of young adulthood perfectly.


This is one of the performances that proved Paul Rudd was capable of much more than just comedy. Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things is a nasty, uncomfortable, provocative piece of work that explores manipulation, vanity, cruelty, and the power dynamics that exist within relationships.


Rudd plays Adam, a shy, socially awkward young man whose life is transformed after beginning a relationship with an art student played by Rachel Weisz. To say anything more would spoil the film's devastating twists, but Rudd's work here is remarkable. He is vulnerable, sympathetic, heartbreaking, and completely believable.


This is one of the darkest and most emotionally complicated performances of his career (and it might just be my favorite) and remains one of the best examples of his dramatic abilities.


You could make an argument that every member of the supporting cast steals Anchorman at one point or another, but Paul Rudd's Brian Fantana may be the funniest character in the entire movie. That's saying something in a cast that includes Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, David Koechner, Christina Applegate, and Fred Willard. Fantana is an unbelievably vain, absurdly confident ladies' man who is also spectacularly clueless.


Rudd commits completely to the ridiculousness of the character. Whether he's bragging about his cologne collection or delivering one of the movie's countless quotable lines, he is hysterical. It's one of the great ensemble comedy performances of the 2000s and helped cement Rudd as one of the funniest actors working.


Judd Apatow's breakthrough classic introduced mainstream audiences to an entire generation of comedy talent, and Paul Rudd was a huge part of that success. Playing David, one of Steve Carell's co-workers and friends, Rudd gets some of the movie's funniest moments. What I love about the performance is how natural it feels. It never seems like acting.


The conversations, the arguments, the endless teasing, and the immature behavior all feel completely authentic. Rudd helped redefine studio comedy with this film, and his performance is one of the reasons it still holds up beautifully.


This movie doesn't always get mentioned alongside the bigger Apatow-era comedies, but it absolutely deserves to. Role Models is one of the funniest and most consistently entertaining comedies of its decade.


Rudd plays Danny, an energy-drink salesman whose life is falling apart after a spectacular public meltdown lands him in community service. Paired with Seann William Scott, Rudd creates one of the great comedy duos of the era. His sarcastic delivery, impeccable timing, and underlying sweetness make Danny incredibly likable even when he's behaving badly.


The movie is loaded with great supporting performances, but Rudd is its anchor. Every time I revisit Role Models, I'm reminded of how funny he really is.


This is one of those movies that didn't really connect with audiences when it was released, but I've always found it more interesting than its reputation suggests. The great James L. Brooks assembled an incredible cast that included Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Jack Nicholson, and Paul Rudd.


While the movie itself is uneven, Rudd gives a wonderfully human performance as George, a businessman whose life begins to unravel both professionally and personally. He brings warmth, vulnerability, and intelligence to a character who could have easily been overshadowed by the bigger personalities around him. In many ways, his performance is the emotional center of the entire movie.


This is one of the most lovable performances Paul Rudd has ever given. As Ned, an impossibly kind, hopelessly naïve guy who unintentionally creates chaos everywhere he goes, Rudd walks a very difficult tightrope. The character could easily become irritating, but Rudd's innate decency and charm make him impossible to dislike.


The movie itself is funny and sweet, but it's also surprisingly moving. Rudd understands that Ned isn't stupid. He's simply honest in a world filled with people who aren't. That distinction is what makes the performance work so beautifully. It's one of the purest expressions of the qualities that have made Paul Rudd such a beloved performer.


One of the most underrated comedies of the last twenty years, Wanderlust takes a ridiculous premise and turns it into something surprisingly smart and genuinely funny. Rudd and Jennifer Aniston play a married couple who stumble into a free-spirited commune after their lives fall apart.


The supporting cast is spectacular, but Rudd's performance is the key to making the movie work. He fully embraces the absurdity while keeping the character grounded enough that we care about him. The infamous mirror-pep-talk sequence alone is enough to earn this movie a place on the list. It remains one of the funniest scenes Paul Rudd has ever filmed.


David Gordon Green's Prince Avalanche may be the most overlooked performance of Paul Rudd's career. This quiet, beautifully observed character piece pairs him with Emile Hirsch as two workers repainting road lines in the aftermath of a devastating wildfire. The movie is funny, melancholy, strange, and unexpectedly profound.


Rudd gives a wonderfully restrained performance that reveals layers of loneliness, disappointment, and hope beneath the surface. It's a subtle piece of work, the kind of performance that doesn't demand attention but earns it. While many people know Paul Rudd primarily as a comedy star, Prince Avalanche is a reminder that he is also a remarkably gifted dramatic actor when given the opportunity.




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