Target could be star
Paper image used by NYPD resembles Rudd
Don’t shoot! That’s the sexiest man alive!
A paper target used at NYPD firing ranges bears a striking resemblance to comedic actor Paul Rudd, People magazine’s “sexiest man alive,” the Daily News has learned.
And if you factor in the “Ant Man” star’s strong ’stache game in movies like “Anchorman” and its sequel, the two could be brothers, New Yorkers said Saturday.
“That’s not legit — that’s made up, right?” laughed Upper East Side florist Cristana Flores, 40.
Two words came to mind when Harlem pizzeria worker Sotirios Haralampidis saw pictures of the “Clueless” actor and the target side by side.
“Oh s—t!” he yelled, smiling. Still, Haralampidis thought the two-dimensional doppelganger could have been another celebrity as well.
“He could be Burt Reynolds,” Haralampidis, 38, said.
The ageless Rudd was named People’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2021, an honor he said he hoped would finally get him invited to “those sexy dinners with Clooney and Pitt and B Jordan.”
“I figure I’ll be on a lot more yachts. I’m excited to expand my yachting life,” the 52-yearold actor told People. “And I’ll probably try to get better at brooding in really soft light. I like to ponder. I think this is going to help me become more inward and mysterious. And I’m looking forward to that.”
The target, aptly titled “red plaid man,” was spotted in an NYPD forensics lab in Jamaica, Queens, in October.
A department spokesman said officers had “red plaid man” in their sights when they tested out their MP5 rifles, but not recently.
“We haven’t used that target in five years,” the spokesman said.
Rob Clark, owner of the Realistic Target Co. in Somerset, Wis., said “red plaid man” and his brother “green plaid man” have been big sellers over the years with the NYPD and other law enforcement agencies that use rifles.
“This is the first time I had heard that,” Clark, 75, said when asked about his target’s resemblance to Rudd.
Still, Clark knows for a fact that the “40 Year Old Virgin” star didn’t inspire the sketch in any way.
“That image was probably made over 30 years ago,” Clark said. “I don’t see [the connection], but I’m not contradicting it necessarily.”
“I guess it would be safe to say that Paul Rudd looks like my target,” he said.
Repeated calls and emails to Rudd’s representatives were not returned.
Rudd is not the only celebrity to be confused with a paper target used by law enforcement.
A target of a round-faced, dark-haired man used for more than 40 years and known as “the thug” was often confused with a young Ernest Borgnine.