october-2010

When Paul Rudd burst onto
the Hollywood scene as a doodle in
Alicia Silverstone’s notebook in 1995’s
Clueless, his career trajectory seemed
pretty obvious: He would play the cute,
harmless guy in a string of broad romcoms
(The Object of My Aff ection, Overnight
Delivery), then move into a major
romantic role as Lisa Kudrow’s sweetas-pie
boyfriend on the smash TV show
Friends. At the time, it was just the kind
of thing that male actors with shaggy
hair and lovable personalities did, and
he did it well. But somewhere along
the way, Rudd took a clever detour,
morphing into one of Hollywood’s
reliable funnymen and helping to
launch the comedy subgenre of the
moment: the “bromance.”
Rudd’s fi rst comic movie role was in
the 2001 summer camp send-up Wet Hot
American Summer, but it was 2004’s Will
Ferrell vehicle, Anchorman: The Legend of
Ron Burgundy, that really put him on the
comedy map. Next, supporting parts in
Judd Apatow-directed hits The 40 Year
Old Virgin and Knocked Up showcased his
sardonic wit and average, middle-class
charm, paving the way for comedic
turns as a buttoned-up Everyman.
Since 2008, Rudd has played the
comic straight man opposite Seann
William Scott in Role Models, Jason Segel
in I Love You, Man, and in this month’s
new release, opposite Steve Carell for
the third time, in Dinner for Schmucks.
But the bromance comes with a twist
this time: Rudd plays Tim, a fi nancial
analyst clawing for a promotion to
impress his girlfriend. But before he
can earn the new job, his boss asks him
to participate in a top-secret corporate
dinner where each executive brings
a “schmuck,” or idiot, as a guest. The
event is staged to impress an important
client, and the schmuckiest dinner
guest is crowned the evening’s winner.
Loosely based on the 1997 French
fi lm, Le Diner de Cons, Dinner for Schmucks
(which also stars Galifi anakis and
Jemaine Clement from HBO’s Flight of
FRIENDS IN NEED Rudd and Jason Segel get chummy in I Love You, Man.
DUMB LUCK Paul Rudd happens upon the perfect guest in Dinner for Schmucks.
the Conchords) isn’t quite as edgy as the
somewhat sadistic original—Tim and
his chosen schmuck, roadkill mouse
taxidermist Barry (Carell) become
fast friends—but Tim is still probably
the least likable character Rudd has
ever played. He is, at times, dishonest,
manipulative and overly ambitious. It
doesn’t seem to make audiences dislike
Rudd though—as Schmucks director Jay
Roach has said, “Paul is a guy you never
lose sympathy for. He has the ability
to keep audiences rooting for him, no
matter how big of a jerk he plays.”
And he does play jerks. One thing
that connects Rudd’s comedy roles is
the tension between his character’s
romantic relationships and his
“bromantic” relationships. Simply
put, he gets along better with his guy
friends than his girlfriends. Pete, his
character in Knocked Up, fi nds himself
having to sneak away from a controlling
wife to attend a fantasy baseball draft,
and Peter, whom Rudd plays in I Love
You, Man, retreats to his new friend’s
man cave to jam out to Rush songs.
He's a guy trying and failing at both
friendships and relationships—a
problem he once told ABC News
made the new genre of the bromance
relatable. “I think most of these
comedies could be dramas,” Rudd has
said. “As a kid I know that [my parents
met] most of their friends because my