WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers
A little like Ryan Reynolds, Paul Rudd is known for his comedy roles. However, unlike Reynolds, it’s rather hard to avoid comedy films because his career seems to be proliferated with them. When he’s not playing the lead role, I would say that Rudd seems to more of the straight character (and no I don’t mean straight as in heterosexual).
Role Models
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this film, and honestly, I love it anytime I watch it. However, this is the first time that I’ve noticed that Paul Rudd’s character is genuinely an arsehole! Like, Wheeler is meant to be a prick and Sean William Scott plays him exactly that way but he at least knows he’s a prick. Danny, on the other hand, clearly doesn’t realise that he is just as bad. Truthfully, I don’t enjoy this film for Rudd or Scott. I enjoy it because the pair of them are completely outdone by the two children they work alongside.
I Love You, Man
I’ll be honest, I avoided this film for a long time because I 100% don’t find his co-star, Jason Segel, very funny. However, I now regret putting it off for so long! I’m going to call this a brom-com (not sure if that’s going to catch on?), it is literally a film about a guy trying to find himself a best friend with all the typical tropes of a romantic comedy – the meet-cute (you know, the perfect situation that you tell your children about), the argument that breaks them apart and the reunion that brings them back together at the end. The only thing I found annoying about this film is how judgemental his girlfriend becomes regarding Peter and Sydney’s friendship but only because she has a hypocritical attitude. It really makes me wonder about people’s relationships in the real world.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Rudd’s character isn’t massive in this film. He’s not a lead character like the other two films mentioned but he is important when it comes to the building of our protagonist, Charlie. Outside of Sam and Patrick, Mr Anderson is possibly the only other character that helps Charlie break out of his shell. On top of that, as far as I know, this is the only serious role Rudd has ever taken on and you know what? I think he should do it more often. OK, it’s a small role but I felt this needed to be included as a reminder that comedy clearly isn’t all he can do – it’s just that it seems to be what he chooses to do.
Honorary Mentions
Friends was known for its celebrity cameos, but how many of you remember Paul Rudd being one of them? Well, it was actually more than a cameo – he starred as Phoebe’s future husband, Mike Hannigan. Now I thought this one of his first roles, however it has since come to my attention that he played Paris (known as Dave Paris) in Baz Luhrman’s Romeo+Juliet. For those who don’t know the story, he’s Juliet’s suitor before she meets and falls in love with Romeo so it’s a pretty big role. With Paul now being known as a comedy actor, it may come as a surprise that he starred in Halloween: Curse of Michael Myers as the adult Tommy Doyle (the little boy from the first film).
