Paul Rudd’s Marriage Inspired Several Scenes in This Movie
It’s hard to believe that Paul Rudd originally won over audiences with his on-screen personas more than 30 years ago. The hero of Marvel’s Ant-Man trilogy received his first major break with Clueless in 1995, but when he teamed up with regular collaborator Judd Apatow, he found his comedic voice. The two collaborated on several comedic films in the 2000s, including The 40-Year-Old Virgin, This is 40, and Knocked Up.
While filming Knocked Up, Rudd found some inspiration from his own life. Let’s take a look at the actor and how he got some real-life marriage counseling from his movie.
‘Knocked Up’ in real life
Rudd was in the movie Knocked Up, which stars Katherine Heigl. Heigl has publicly stated that she thought the movie was sexist. However, the film is meant to be a comedy. Here is a recap of the film.
After having a one-night affair with slacker Ben Stone, played by Seth Rogen, rising journalist Alison Scott, played by Katherine Heigl, is surprised when she becomes pregnant after the encounter. She allows Ben to demonstrate that he is a good father rather than raising the child on her own.
Debbie, Alison’s sister, is skeptical of the situation. Rudd plays the part of Pete, the husband of Leslie Mann’s character Debbie. Mann also happens to be married to writer Judd Apatow. Rudd says that he drew inspiration from his real-life marriage to Julie Rudd.
Paul Rudd is inspired to analyze his own marriage
Rudd inspired the main characters’ argument about raising children from an argument with his wife. He teold GQ, “When we were working on the script, Judd and Leslie had been married and together for a long time, as had my wife and I, and Judd wanted to hear things from my life and my marriage and things that we, you know, were dealing with.”
He then recalls an argument that he and his wife had since they were trying to start a family at the time.
“There were certain things, like when my wife was pregnant, I didn’t read the baby books, and we got in an argument about it. She took it as a hostile gesture, which I totally understand in retrospect.” Rudd said something to her that made it into the movie almost verbatim. “I said, ‘What did the cavemen do without ‘What To Expect When You’re Expecting?'”
Some of Paul Rudd’s memorable roles
Rudd had his first breakout hit in the movie Clueless, where he plays the unlikely love interest of teen socialite Cher. He can also be seen in films such as Anchorman, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Dinner For Schmucks, and The 40-Year-Old Virgin.
More recently, Rudd has made a name for himself as a Marvel character, Ant-Man. His newest addition to the series, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, was released on Feb. 17 in theaters.
In addition to his movie roles, Rudd is known for his youthful looks despite his age. Rudd is 53 but doesn’t look much older than he did when he starred in Clueless. He is constantly questioned about his youth, which contributed to winning the People’s Hottest Man Alive title in 2021.
Paul Rudd is one of Hollywood’s most beloved action and rom-com stars. With Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania now in theaters, fans can see Rudd’s superhero physique and youthful looks.
