Having starred in numerous popular comedies and featuring as Ant-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Paul Rudd has become one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood. What was his first movie?
Paul Rudd’s first theatrically released movie was Amy Heckerling’s 1995 cult classic “Clueless”. He had appeared in TV movies before this and his first onscreen appearance was in “Jamie’s Secret” in 1992, an educational short about sexual abuse.
For more on Paul Rudd’s early life and onscreen career, read on.
Before Stardom
Paul Rudd was born in Passaic, New Jersey on April 6, 1969, the son of Michael Rudd, a historical tour guide, and Gloria Granville, a TV station sales manager. Both his parents were English, having emigrated from London, with Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry.
His family moved to Lenexa, Kansas when Paul was 10 years old. He started acting in school and majored in theatre at the University of Kansas. After graduating, he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA), as well as spending a few months at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, England.
To make ends meet while attending acting school, Rudd worked as a DJ at Bar Mitzvahs and also had a number of odd jobs such as glazing hams for the Holiday Ham Company in Kansas.
TV
Paul Rudd’s first TV acting role came in 1992 when he was cast as Kirby Philby in “Sisters”.. He appeared on the show for a couple of seasons, as the husband of a daughter of one of the main characters, but was written out when he left to make “Clueless”.
During this time period, he also appeared in a number of TV movies, miniseries and guest roles, and a home video.
His earliest screen role is probably “Jamie’s Secret”, a 1992 short video about sexual abuse. The video was one of several educational shorts on difficult subjects made by the same group, which were sent out to schools as classroom conversation starters.
Clueless
Paul Rudd’s first role on the big screen came in 1995’s “Clueless”, also starring Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, and Brittany Murphy.
The film was written and directed by Amy Heckerling, who loosely based its plot on Jane Austen’s 1815 novel “Emma”. Heckerling originally wrote the script as a TV pilot after being told by 20th Century Fox that she should write something about the teenage “in crowd”.
Heckerling agreed, on the condition that she could make fun of them, and began writing. While establishing the protagonist, Cher, she felt that she had unconsciously written a character with a similar optimistic, “rose-colored glasses” mindset.
Seeing parallels between the prestige obsessed 1800s English society and that of modern socialites, Heckerling placed these concepts into 1990s Beverly Hills.
Fox saw potential in the script but asked Heckerling to edit it to feature fewer women and more male characters. When she declined to do so, the rights were sold off, with Paramount Pictures placing the winning bid.
Heckerling felt this was a great fit as Paramount owned MTV and Nickelodeon, showing their ability to appeal to a younger audience.
Rudd played Josh Lucas, Cher’s former stepbrother who she has an adversarial relationship with at the beginning of the film. One of the movie’s key plots is the way that Josh proves to be more considerate of Cher than the men she chooses to date.
At the end of the movie, Cher realizes her true feelings for Josh and she strives to live a more meaningful life.
“Clueless” received positive reviews on its release and did well at the box office, grossing $56.6 million on a $12 million budget. It remains one of the most popular teen films of all time and has become a cult classic in the decades since its release, as well as giving Paul Rudd his big break on the silver screen.