Paul Rudd recently reflected on his role in Clueless, one of the most notable early acting jobs in his career. In a recent interview, the actor opened up about initially wanting to play a different role than Josh.
Paul Rudd thought Christian was the coolest character in Clueless
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Paul Rudd explained that he was more interested in playing Christian, Cher’s gay best friend, or Murray, Dionne’s boyfriend. However, he ended up landing the role of Josh.
“I remember reading it, like, ‘Wait a minute, this is a gay character, who’s also the coolest character in the movie? I’ve never seen this before, and it’s the most interesting part,'” Rudd recalled.
Amy Heckerling, the director of Clueless, let Rudd read for both Christian and Josh. However, she ended up casting him as Josh, Cher’s love interest. “But after the audition was done,” the actor said, “I was not on the phone with my agents, like, ‘Did I get it? Did I get it?’”
The role turned Rudd into a heartthrob, but he didn’t capitalize on the movie’s success right here. This is because he had prior commitments to a stage production of The Last Night of Ballyhoo in New York City. “My agent was like, ‘What the f— are you doing?'” Rudd reveals, adding, “But I was so excited. I was 25 or 26, and I was about to be on Broadway.”
Severance star Adam Scott, who studied at the same acting school as Rudd, also gushed about his longtime pal’s Clueless success. “I was at the premiere of Clueless out in Malibu with him, and it comes up on this big screen on the beach, and immediately I was like, ‘Oh, Paul’s going to be a famous person now,’” Scott told THR.
He added, “And sure enough, everything changed after that… Suddenly, we could just walk into any bar. It was like, ‘Whoa, what the f— is going on? This is incredible.'”
Meanwhile, fans are excited to see Rudd reprise his role as Ant-Man in the upcoming MCU movie, Avengers: Doomsday.
