"Making Silly Sooo Sexy"

Some actors become overnight sensations and others have a slow burn before their careers truly become red hot. Paul Rudd fits the latter down to a T.

Rudd first achieved success in the teen comedy Clueless, but had gained little notice until he scored a role in the Judd Apatow-produced comedy hit Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

Following that, Paul became an Apatow supporting regular in films the latter both produced and directed films including The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. He finally gained star status as a comic actor in the films Role Models and I Love You, Man.

Now the 41 year-old hits Hollywood comedy gold with a role in James L. Brooks’s first film as director in 13 years, the romantic comedy How Do You Know?.

In the film, the actor plays George, a corporate executive who is not only caught in a love triangle with a Washington Nationals player, played by Owen Wilson, both vying for the affections of a professional softball player, played by Reese Witherspoon, but faces a professional crisis a man when he is indicted for deals involving the company of his father, Charles played by Jack Nicholson. Rudd shared some of what he liked about playing George.

“I think with the character I was playing, one of the things I kind of loved about him was his whole world was falling in on itself, and yet he tried to carry himself with this dignity,” Paul says of him, “It was kind of who he was and he seemed to be unconcerned with how he might come off, if it was awkward or nervous or even in the way the character spoke, it seemed to me he could be from another time.”

“This character could have been in a movie from the ‘40’s,” he continues, “You don’t see that very much these days. I loved that. You get a much clearer sense

"Making Silly Sooo Sexy"

of who the character is when it’s written so well. So in a way it’s just easier to play.”

Paul talks about his inspiration for a scene in the film when Paul is singing drunk.

“I’ll sing Teddy Pendergrass drunk, sober, it makes no difference to me at all,” he claims, “That was all sense memory, I got drunk once in college, and I tried to remember what that feeling was like. Teddy Pendergrass, that song I sung several times at karaoke. And um, I listen to all kinds of music. But I knew all the words that song. It’s also about an eight-minute song, so it’s probably good that we didn’t get into the entire thing.”

Rudd was asked if he had any of his own rivals in love.

“It’s weird, I think the answer would be Owen [Wilson]’s older brother,” Paul jokingly replies.

One moment in How Do You Know? deals with an ill-fated blind date. Paul shared his own bad experiences with blind dates.

“I went on a double date, a friend and I went on a double date with these two girls and uh, it started off we were trying to impress the girls and make each other laugh,” Rudd recalls, “And it started out innocently enough with my friend kicking his shoe 30 feet in the air as we’re walking down the street. And it really struck me as funny. So then I try to outdo him, I jumped on a mailbox or something, and each thing kept escalating. The girls didn’t laugh at any of these. But it ended finally I was driving, we were driving home, I had a jeep at the time.”

“And I thought it would be funny if, in the middle of a conversation, jump out of the jeep and run alongside, keep the conversation going as if it was normal,” he adds, “And I didn’t take into account that when you’re going slow in a car, it’s still really fast. I

"Making Silly Sooo Sexy"

was in the middle of the conversation and stepped on the car and fell so hard on the pavement, I ripped my jeans and cut up my hands and felt the tire whoosh past my head. And I looked up and in a split second the car was already 50 feet in front of me going into a tree. And they looked completely shellshocked and I felt so stupid and then just drove home in silence. And that was the only date I had with that girl.”

Rudd was asked what he feels are the telltale signs that one is in love?

“We always heard you just know,” he answers, “But I question that. Is that just a way to get out of the question, or do you just know?”

Finally, Paul shared what with us what he has coming out in the future.

“I just finished a movie a week ago with David [Wain] directing and Judd produced it,” Rudd reveals, “And I hope to work with Judd again on another film possibly. We talk all the time. At this point I would say both of those guys are good friends of mine. We like working together, and I’d hope that would continue.”