Paul Rudd starred as the title character in Marvel’s Ant-Man, directed by Peyton Reed. The film also starred Michael Douglas and Evangeline Lilly and opened at #1 at the box office. Rudd was nominated for a Critics’ Choice Award for “Best Actor in an Action Movie” and a MTV Movie Award for “Best Hero” on behalf of his performance in the film. The blockbuster film grossed over $500 million worldwide and Marvel will release its sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp, on July 6, 2018. Rudd co-wrote Ant-Man with Adam McKay, Edgar Wright, and Joe Cornish and co-wrote the sequel which is currently in production. Rudd starred as Ant-Man in Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War, which grossed over $1 billion worldwide, and is currently in production on the fourth Avengers film.
Rudd will next star in Ben Lewin’s WWII dramatic spy-thriller The Catcher Was a Spy, starring opposite Paul Giamatti, Guy Pearce, and Mark Strong. Rudd stars as “Moe Berg,” a professional baseball player and top-secret spy for the OSS who helped the U.S. win the race against Germany to build the atomic bomb. The film premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and will be released by IFC on June 22, 2018. Rudd will also star in Andrew Fleming’s dramedy An Ideal Home opposite Steve Coogan, and recently starred in Duncan Jones’ Mute with Alexander Skarsgård and Justin Theroux for Netflix.
Rudd starred opposite Will Ferrell, Steve Carell and David Koechner in Adam McKay’s Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues reprising their roles from Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy for Paramount. Anchorman 2 grossed over $170 million worldwide and received a People’s Choice Award nomination for “Favorite Year End Movie,” as well as two MTV Movie Award nominations.
Rudd is well known for his roles in Judd Apatow’s This Is 40 and Knocked Up. Knocked Up grossed over $300 million worldwide, received a People’s Choice Award for “Favorite Movie Comedy,” a Critics’ Choice Award nomination for “Best Comedy Movie” and was named one of AFI’s “Top Ten Films of the Year.” Additionally, This Is 40 was nominated for a 2013 Critics’ Choice Award for “Best Comedy Movie” and Rudd was nominated for “Best Actor in a Comedy.”
Rudd’s other film credits include: Role Models (co-writer), Wanderlust (producer), Our Idiot Brother, I Love You, Man, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Clueless, William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, Wet Hot American Summer, Cider House Rules, The Object of My Affection, They Came Together, Prince Avalanche, Admission, Dinner for Schmucks, The Fundamentals of Caring, How Do You Know, Monsters Vs. Aliens, The Ten (producer), Night at the Museum, Diggers, and The Chateau, among others.
Rudd returned to the Broadway stage in 2012 in Craig Wright’s Grace starring opposite Michael Shannon, Kate Arrington, and Edward Asner at the Cort Theatre. Grace was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for “Outstanding New Broadway Play” and Rudd was nominated for a Drama League Award for “Distinguished Performance Award.” His other stage credits include starring opposite Julia Roberts and Bradley Cooper in Richard Greenberg’s Broadway production of Three Days of Rain, Neil Labute’s Bash in both New York and Los Angeles, as well as Labute’s The Shape of Things in London and New York. Rudd made his West End debut in the London production of Robin Phillips’ Long Days Journey Into Night opposite Jessica Lange. Other Broadway credits include Nicholas Hynter’s Twelfth Night at Lincoln Center Theater with a special performance which aired on PBS’ Great Performances and in Alfred Uhry’s Tony Award winning play, The Last Night of Ballyhoo.
On television, Rudd was the co-writer and co-creator of the critically acclaimed series Party Down on Starz. He also garnered wide recognition with a recurring role as Mike Hannigan on the TV sitcom Friends. In 2012, Rudd won a Critics’ Choice Award for “Best Guest Performer in a Comedy” for his guest-starring role on Parks and Recreation. Also, Rudd reprised his role as Andy in David Wain’s Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp and Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years later along with the original cast for a limited television series based on the cult film for Netflix.