These days, there are very few "sure things" in entertainment. But one thing we can always count on is that if Paul Rudd is involved, we are in for a treat - be it a treat of stupid dancing, goofy voices, or just a flash of that preciously wicked smile.
Okay, so the early notices for Admission - in which he stars alongside the equally amazing Tina Fey - are pretty bad. But I think we can look past that. Rudd is often the best part of the movies he is in, and he'd have to turn in a bad performance in a legitimate disaster to erase decades of comedy goodwill. Heck - at this point Paul would have to pull a full Michelle Shocked to fall from our favor.
Allow us to enter the following exhibits into evidence...
10. This portrait by Brantley Gutierrez:
No idea. Not going to question it, just going to enjoy.
Next!
9. If he was good enough for Cher Horowitz, he's certainly good enough for us.
Rudd landed on many of our RADAR screens thanks to the classic '90s teen fantasia Clueless, in which he played the bitchy, overeducated romantic foil to the hopeless, undereducated Cher (Alicia Silverstone). Adorable, well-read, AND rich? Sign us up.
8. This photo spread:
I think it pretty much speaks for itself.
7. He told Elizabeth Banks she tastes like a burger.
In the don't-even-get-me-started comedy classic Wet Hot American Summer, Rudd's '80s jerkwad camp counselor character kills campers for witnessing other campers dying because of his negligence, does what might be the best double-take in the history of movies, and delivers a classic line to on-again, off-again, barbecue-sauce-covered hookup, Elizabeth Banks.
6. This mustache:
Afternoon delight, indeed.
5. He somehow managed to be in the only good Katherine Heigl movie.
Did anyone else see This is 40 and wonder why Heigl's Knocked Up character - who was Rudd's character's sister-in-law and who was always at the house in the first film - never showed up? No? Me neither.
4. He was the most beautiful man in the world in Romeo + Juliet.
Okay, I'm technically confusing my Paris from mythology (the male ideal who kidnapped Helen of Troy) with his wealthy namesake in the Shakespeare play - but I think it's an apt description, nonetheless. Likewise, Baz Luhrmann's update of Shakespeare's classic tragedy wasn't perfect, but his casting of Rudd as Paris - the dashing man competing for Juliet's attentions - certainly was. And could that boy work an astronaut's suit.
3. The Object of My Affection
Okay, it's kind of amazing in this day and age to think about it, but even as recently as 1998, it was seriously edgy for a young actor in Hollywood to play a gay character. So Rudd's bold early-career turn as George - the gay apple of a young Jennifer Aniston's eye - was as ballsy as it was adorable.
2. He's a great "Final Girl".
One of Rudd's earliest leading roles was playing the lead in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, and he actually did a great job jazzing up an otherwise rote run-and-scream role. Check out the priceless moment in this scene (starts at around 2:30) where his character brain-farts after seeing Michael Myers for the first time. Classic Rudd, and a glimpse of the career as a comic actor that was to come.
1. Two Words: Nude Tayne.
Okay, two more words: Celery Man. And hat wobble. And "Oyster smiling."
Basically, this is the best thing ever created on the Internet and after you watch it we can all go outside and play.
Now Tayne I can get into.
These are just the tip of the sassy little iceberg that has been melting our hearts for years - we haven't even touched on Rudd's singular talk show style, his early years as a bar mitzvah roof-raiser, or the fact that he played the French President on Little Britain: USA.
What are your top ten reasons to love Rudd?
