Paul Rudd Ruined Almost Every Take of This ‘Anchorman’ Scene
Anchorman is one of the most beloved movies of the 2000s. With its stacked cast and quotable hilarious scenes, it’s easy to forget that it wasn’t exactly a sure thing when it was released. The slow burn of the Will Ferrell-led comedy mostly played out in the then-thriving DVD market.
Without that second life, we may have forgotten the now-iconic scenes, often with actors who became even more famous later on. Paul Rudd, now starring in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, is certainly in that category. And he recently revealed that he had so much fun on the Anchorman set that one of the funniest scenes in the movie almost didn’t get filmed as intended.
The enduring popularity of ‘Anchorman’
The Adam McKay-directed 1970s newsman comedy got off to a poor start, the Independent reports. Critics seemed tired of Ferrell’s broad schtick as anchor Ron Burgundy. While they recognized that Anchorman was something different than Old School or Elf, the general consensus was that the whole thing was too silly and lacked sharp wit.
The audiences of 2004 seemed to agree, and the $85 million domestic box office reflected that. Outside of the country, where the barrage of 1970s American cultural references didn’t land, the movie only pulled in another $5 million.
But there’s something bewitching about the relentlessly silly Anchorman. Ferrell, Rudd, David Koechner, Christina Applegate, and Steve Carell all got surreal scenes that seemed specially tailored to their talents. From Rudd’s horrifically musky cologne to Ferrell aggressively playing the flute, these were scenes that people kept coming back to on DVD.
Nobody forgot about Anchorman, but its poor box office kept the sequel in development hell. Eventually, the finances worked out — thanks to many principal actors taking big pay cuts — and Anchorman 2: The Legend of Ron Burgundy hit theaters in 2013.
Paul Rudd couldn’t make it through filming one particular scene with Steve Carell
Why would big name actors like Rudd slash their paychecks and spend their time on a project like Anchorman 2? Probably because of how much fun they had making the original film. The Ant-Man star recently revealed that the scene where Carell’s character Brick Tamland seemingly eats a coffee filter filled with coffee grounds was almost too fun to film.
“There are so many times in Anchorman, and scenes, that I have such clear memories of laughing,” Rudd said in a featurette on the GQ YouTube channel. “You don’t wanna laugh when you’re in someone’s take, because you don’t wanna make something unusable.”
He goes on to describe ruining take after take of one of the funniest yet understated scenes in the film. Brick thinks he’s enjoying some kind of cinnamon falafel wrap, and Carell deadpans his way through the performance.
“Every time Carell would take a bite of it, it was so repulsive, we’d all start laughing,” Rudd said. Everybody but Carell — including the crew — ruined take after take of the grotesquely funny scene. No wonder nobody is quite willing to definitively close the door on a third Anchorman movie.
Rudd is taking ‘Ant-Man’ in a more serious direction
Rudd is on his third headlining run as Marvel’s wackiest hero. While Quantumania still has the signature Marvel humor throughout, the tone of this latest film is more of a Star Wars-esque sci fi adventure feel.
The film has received mixed reviews from critics so far, according to Rotten Tomatoes. But audience feedback is much more positive on Rudd’s more dramatic turn as the character. It remains to be seen if this, like Anchorman, is another movie that takes a bit more time to find its intended audience.
