Image via Getty/Paul Zimmerman
Paul Rudd is a national treasure. Thanks to his suspicious ability to never appear to age, he is also likely a genetic wonder or, perhaps, in deep in an evil partnership with Satan. But if the hilarious actor has sold his soul to the devil in order to maintain a youthful disposition well into middle age, it certainly hasn't diminished his appeal as a reliably funny, consistently charming, and overwhelmingly popular addition to film and TV.
Many young people may have first been introduced to Rudd when he played a condescending academic in the '90s classic Clueless, a teen comedy that successfully skirted around the issue of whether or not it was actually kind of weird that Alicia Silverstone's Cher makes out with her former stepbrother at the end. In the decades since, Rudd has worked consistently, even making his way into the fringes of the Marvel Comics Universe with his role as the titular superhero Ant-Man in 2015. He's appeared in dramatic parts, too, and dabbled in television with memorable guest spots on sitcoms like The Simpsons, Parks and Recreation, Friends, and Reno 911!
But, it's Rudd's place in big screen comedies that has truly come to define his career. As a prominent presence in filmmaker Judd Apatow's company of big-hearted man-children, Rudd has left an indelible mark in such 2000's gems as The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Anchorman, and Wet Hot American Summer balancing sarcastic one-liners with an ability to convey depth of emotion among scat jokes and acid trips.
Even after removing his TV appearances, it's hard to narrow Rudd's IMDB page down to just a handful of his work that's most worth seeing. And we will admit that we haven't sampled his 1992 debut, "Jamie's Secret"—although color us intrigued. But, if we have to choose the best Paul Rudd movies, these are our picks. Can't wait to see how the remaining 5,000 years of his pact with Lucifer pans out at the local cineplex.
Clueless
Let's start off right where our first exposure to Rudd began for many of us: The eminently quotable 1995 classic Clueless. As Josh, the academic whose intolerable snootiness eventually gives way to affection for his former stepsister Cher (just go with it), Rudd doesn't get the films most memorable lines, but he is a key player in a cast of actors who defined an era of teen slang, over-the-top style, and whether or not bongs should be classified as kitchenware.
Knocked Up
After The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Rudd returned to the Apatow-verse with a memorable supporting role as Pete in Knocked Up. Playing the fantasy-sports-loving brother-in-law to a preggers Katherine Heigl, Rudd's best moment in the film involves a genuinely terrifying combination of Las Vegas, Cirque du Soleil, and shrooms.
The 40 Year-Old Virgin
The film that made Steve Carell a bonafide movie star also provided a platform for Rudd to shine as David, Carell's coworker at an electronics store who is among those who discovers his sexless secret. David threatens murder-suicide to avoid listening to Michael McDonald, memorably compares Carell's chest to a sweater, and then uses a box full of pornography to humiliate him. In real life, everyone would hate David, but thanks to Rudd's charm, he's a complete a-hole, but also a welcome onscreen presence.
Wet Hot American Summer
The cast of this absurdist, '80s-set comedy is the definition of stacked: Amy Poehler, Bradley Cooper, Christopher Meloni, Molly Shannon, Janeane Garofalo, and many, many more. As Andy, Camp Firewood's resident rebel, Rudd shows just how well he can navigate the part of a total jerk and complete fan favorite.
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Anchorman is undoubtedly a showcase for Will Ferrell's very specific brand of wacky humor carried over from his SNL days, replete with bizarre characters and jokes that are nearly impossible to explain to someone who hasn't heard the characters onscreen deliver them. One of the most memorable moments in the film is, after all, a man named Brick declaring that he "loves lamp." Rudd also gets a lot of mileage out of asides and the stories he tells as Brian Fantana, a perpetually horny San Diego news anchor who refers to sex as the "no pants dance" and wears a cologne called "Sex Panther" that is illegal in nine countries.
This Is 40
Where was there left to go when Rudd's character Pete, who has already been through the wild ride of Knocked Up, and returns to take center stage in This Is 40? Well, as the 2012, sort-of sequel shows, there was a whole world of Viagra, hemorrhoids, escorts, and middle-aged suburban panic to wade through, to often hilarious results.
Romeo + Juliet
If you're in need of a break from the litany of white men behaving badly of Rudd's Apatow and Apatow-adjacent repertoire, you can also catch him in the role of Dave Paris in Baz Luhrmann's seminal reworking of the Shakespeare play. Rudd plays Dave Paris (known as Count Paris in the original work), a potential suitor for Juliet.
I Love You, Man
If you believe what Hollywood tells us, there is an entire cottage industry of people out there hired to play various roles for various sad sacks who need wedding dates or can't fill out their own wedding party without a little help from strangers. Nevertheless, Rudd leads a cast that also includes Jason Segel and Rashida Jones, in this good-natured take on the trope. Jones and Rudd have winning chemistry, especially in the movie's "slappa da bass" scene.