Paul Rudd: “My routine is the school run and the supermarket”

A-list actor Paul Rudd talks about his low-key life and his bromance with co-star Michael Douglas

He’s enjoyed a hugely H successful career in the spotlight since finding fame in the 1995 movie Clueless – going on to star in Knocked Up, Anchorman and This Is 40. But actor Paul Rudd – who also won a legion of fans as Phoebe’s eventual husband Mike Hannigan in Friends – insists that despite his A-list credentials, he’s not interested in the Hollywood scene and prefers a quiet life with his wife Julie and their two children, Jack, 12, and Darby, eight, in New York.

The 49 year old explains, “My day-to-day life isn’t very different from what it was before. I lead a very ordinary lifestyle. I don’t live in Hollywood, I enjoy my family life with my wife and our children, and my routine involves taking the kids to school and going to the supermarket.”

UNDER THE RADAR

But he admits his starring role in the 2015 Marvel film Ant-man and the 2018 sequel has made it harder to stay under the radar. He says, “The one thing I have noticed that’s different is that now a lot of people approach me and call out, ‘Ant-man!’. Prior to Ant-man, my children had never really seen anything else that I’ve done. I guess some of their friends knew their dad was an actor, but they’d probably never watched any of the TV sitcoms I’ve done. Now I think my own children are much more aware of what I do with my life.”

BONDING

Paul stars in the action blockbuster alongside Hollywood legend Michael Douglas, who plays Dr. Hank Pym. And Paul admits that despite the 73-year-old actor’s legendary status, the pair soon bonded over fatherhood. He explains, “Michael has been in so many films that I’ve loved for so long. And as much as I admire and appreciate him as an actor, I have now come to admire and appreciate and love him even more as an individual, as a friend. When he’s on set, he’s just so funny and easygoing.”

He adds, “We’ve gotten to the point now where we can talk about life things, not just script stuff and movie stuff and, instead, world events and sports and families. We talk a lot about our kids. I feel like we’ve become friends, which is still baffling to me – that I can say he would be a friend. But I really love the guy.”