Paul Rudd

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Date of Birth : Apr 6th 1969

Born in Passaic, New Jersey, to British parents, Paul Rudd traveled frequently with his family, but grew up primarily in Kansas City, Missouri. Harboring a keen interest in the theatre, Paul enrolled at the University of Kansas to study drama and, after two years of honors work, earned the Spencer Tracy Scholarship to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles. Upon entering Oxford University’s British Drama Academy for a three-month workshop, Paul helped produce the Globe Theater’s production of Howard Brenton’s Bloody Poetry under the guidance of Michael Kahn, then portrayed the title role in Hamlet, directed by celebrated actor Ben Kingsley.

Returning to the U.S. in the early 1990s, Paul moved straight into a recurring television role as aspiring filmmaker Kirby Philby on NBC’s weekly drama, Sisters, opposite Ashley Judd. After appearing in several TV miniseries, Rudd co-starred in the short-lived Fox sitcom Wild Oats (1994), then made his feature film debut as protagonist Tommy Doyle in the latest Halloween series installment, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Meyers. He humbly told the New York Post about his first film role, “Even when I was doing it, I knew this was something I’d always be teased about.”

But despite Rudd’s television exposure, most people first remember seeing the actor as Cher’s (Alicia Silverstone) college-aged stepbrother, who eventually becomes the object of her picky affection, in the 1995 hit comedy Clueless, directed by Amy Heckerling. After appearing in the independent film The Size of Watermelons and opposite Reese Witherspoon in the straight-to-video Overnight Delivery, Rudd landed the role of Dave Paris, Juliet’s pompous suitor, in Baz Luhrmann’s stylish rendition of Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996), starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.