Paul Rudd's Real Name: Paul Stephen Rudd

Quick answer: Paul Rudd's full name is Paul Stephen Rudd. He was born on April 6, 1969, in Passaic, New Jersey. Paul Rudd is his real name, and Stephen is his middle name. He broke through in Clueless (1995), became a comedy fixture with Anchorman and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and plays Scott Lang in Marvel's Ant-Man films (Britannica; Library of Congress).

Real name and early life

Britannica gives his name "in full" as Paul Stephen Rudd. The Library of Congress name authority files him as "Rudd, Paul," with the variant "Rudd, Paul Stephen." One citation reads "b. April 6, 1969 in Passaic, New Jersey, USA as Paul Stephen Rudd."

According to Britannica, Rudd was the elder of two children of Michael and Gloria Rudd. Both parents were born in London to Jewish families, and he was raised in Reform Judaism. His father worked for Trans World Airlines, and the family traveled widely. When he was 10, they moved to Overland Park, Kansas. He was student body president at his high school and graduated in 1987. He majored in theater at the University of Kansas and then studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles. He also attended a British American Drama Academy workshop at the University of Oxford.

Career highlights

His film breakthrough came as the elder stepbrother in Clueless (1995). He then moved to New York, debuting on Broadway in The Last Night of Ballyhoo (1997–98). Early films included Romeo + Juliet (1996), The Object of My Affection (1998), and The Cider House Rules (1999). Wet Hot American Summer (2001) failed commercially but became a cult classic.

Britannica says he became a fan favorite as Mike Hannigan, Phoebe Buffay's love interest, in the final two seasons of Friends (2002–04). He then worked often with Judd Apatow, in The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Knocked Up (2007), and This Is 40 (2012), and coproduced Wanderlust (2012). Other films include Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), Role Models (2008), which he cowrote, I Love You, Man (2009), and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012).

His career took a major turn when Marvel cast him as the wisecracking hero Scott Lang in Ant-Man (2015). He co-wrote that film and Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), and he also appeared in Avengers: Endgame (2019). Britannica notes he has been married to Julie Rudd since 2003.

Name notes for searchers

Paul is his given first name, Stephen his middle name, and Rudd his family surname. He has always acted under his own name. Library catalogs list Paul Stephen Rudd as a variant of the same name.