Paul Rudd

Summary

Podcast Summary: Good Hang with Amy Poehler – Episode Featuring Paul Rudd

Release Date: May 6, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of Good Hang with Amy Poehler, Amy welcomes the beloved actor Paul Rudd to discuss his illustrious career, personal anecdotes, and insights into comedy and friendship. The conversation delves into Paul's early career struggles, memorable projects, and his forthcoming film Friendship alongside Tim Robinson.

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Friendships and Early Encounters

Paul Rudd shares the origins of his long-standing friendship with John Hamm and how their paths intertwined through mutual friends.

• Meeting Jon Hamm:

  • [04:03] Paul recalls meeting Jon Hamm in St. Louis through mutual friends. “Paul came back with Preston, the older brother, for Thanksgiving or something one weekend. And he looked like Michael Hutchins. He had like long curly hair... operating at a much higher level than anybody we had really ever run into at that point in our lives.”

• Developing the Friendship:

  • [05:10] As Paul moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting, he spent spring breaks hanging out with Jon and other friends. “We were hanging out in LA, really just making a scene in 1991, 92... He was the first one of us that really got famous. It was very, very cool.”

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Auditioning for Clueless and the Haircut Fiasco

Paul recounts his amusing experience auditioning for the iconic film Clueless and how a spontaneous haircut almost cost him the role.

• The Audition Process:

  • [16:06] Paul describes his audition for Clueless, expressing excitement about the character dynamics. “I liked reading the script... They said, what about Read for the part that I wound up playing, which is Josh character.”

• The Haircut Mishap:

  • [17:25] In a bold move, Paul decides to cut his long hair before hearing back about his audition. “I went into a restaurant, and Amy Heckerling, who directed the movie, was eating there. She looked at me and was shocked by my new haircut.”

• Outcome:

  • [18:35] Despite the setback, Paul's dedication pays off as his hair grows back in time for filming, allowing him to secure the role. “By the time it got to filming, my hair had grown enough that it worked.”

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Working Together on Wet Hot American Summer

Paul and Amy reminisce about their collaborative experience on the cult favorite Wet Hot American Summer, highlighting the camaraderie and memorable moments from the set.

• On-Set Memories:

  • [22:03] Paul shares nostalgic memories of working with Amy and the rest of the cast. “We were all kind of starting off... We had great leaders in Michael Showalter and David Wayne.”

• Challenges Faced:

  • [22:28] They discuss the difficulties of shooting in unfavorable weather conditions. “It rained the whole time, 25 of the 28 days... We had to pretend it was sunny and it was freezing cold.”

• Humorous Incidents:

  • [25:22] A funny encounter with David Hyde Pierce is recounted, emphasizing the light-hearted atmosphere on set. “David Hyde Pierce showed up... We were all like, what is this guy gonna think?”

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Insights into Comedy and Personal Work Ethic

The conversation shifts to Paul's philosophy on comedy and his approach to acting, shedding light on his relaxed yet dedicated work style.

• Healthy Attachment to Work:

  • [19:22] Paul reflects on his non-competitive nature in the acting world. “I don't feel competitive with other actors. I'm a real big fan of a lot of other actors.”

• Fun Over Stress:

  • [19:41] He emphasizes that acting should be enjoyable. “I think this should be fun. It's a really fun job. You respond to comedy in the same way I do and that it should be a fun experience.”

• Conflict Resolution:

  • [20:52] Discussing conflict styles, Paul humorously admits to having yelled in anger but generally prefers to check out or ride out conflicts. “My conflict style is probably different depending on who I have a conflict with.”

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Upcoming Film: Friendship with Tim Robinson

Paul teases his upcoming project Friendship alongside Tim Robinson, exploring themes of male friendship and loneliness.

• Film Overview:

  • [44:49] Paul describes Friendship as a movie addressing the loneliness epidemic among men and the complexities of forming meaningful connections. “It's a movie about the loneliness epidemic of men and the attempt at making a friend and then what goes wrong.”

• Personal Reflections:

  • [46:06] He shares his thoughts on the importance of cultivating genuine friendships. “The pinnacle, the height of it is just being with the people that I love and really laughing with a bunch of friends. It's the greatest.”

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Personal Anecdotes and Reflections

Throughout the episode, Paul and Amy exchange light-hearted stories and personal reflections, reinforcing their close friendship and shared sense of humor.

• Humorous Exchanges:

  • [43:04] The duo engages in playful banter about mundane topics like peeing in bottles, showcasing their chemistry. “You get to pee in bottles… Straight white males get to pee in bottles.”

• Memorable Moments:

  • [37:07] Paul reminisces about his character Bobby Newport on Parks and Recreation, highlighting the charm and humor of the role. “Bobby Newport was the rich son who just wanted to have a good time.”

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Final Thoughts and Farewells

As the episode concludes, Paul and Amy share heartfelt sentiments about their enduring friendship and the joy of working together.

• Celebrating Friendship:

  • [52:46] Paul emphasizes the value of long-term friendships and mutual support. “One thing that really makes me laugh... it's just the best thing there is.”

• Encouraging Movie Experiences:

  • [63:56] They advocate for the unique experience of watching movies in theaters, contrasting it with home viewings. “When you watch something in the theater, you’re sharing that moment with others. It's the opposite of your own mortality.”

• Closing Remarks:

  • [61:22] Paul expresses his gratitude and excitement for the future projects. “You're the best. Thank you for doing this.”

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Notable Quotes

• Paul Rudd on Friendship:

  • “The pinnacle... is just being with the people that I love and really laughing with a bunch of friends. It's the greatest.” [46:06]

• Paul on Comedy:

  • “I think this should be fun. It's a really fun job.” [19:41]

• Amy Poehler on Shared Experiences:

  • “You want to encourage people to shout out at the movie theater.” [63:56]

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Conclusion

This episode of Good Hang with Amy Poehler offers an intimate look into Paul Rudd's career, his philosophies on comedy and friendship, and his personal experiences in the entertainment industry. The heartfelt and humorous exchange underscores the deep bond between Amy and Paul, making it a must-listen for fans and newcomers alike.

Transcript

[Amy Poehler]

Hi, everyone, this is Amy Poehler. Welcome to another episode of Good Hang. We're going to talk to the great Paul Rudd today. I've known Paul for a million years and I love him. You love him, America loves him. The world loves him. We're going to talk about some cool stuff today. We're going to talk about how he almost lost the part in Clueless because he had a bad haircut. We're going to talk about how dumb comedy is our favorite kind of comedy and maybe it's not as dumb as you think. And we're going to get into the absurdity of existence. Cause that's what we do here. We go deep and then we get really shallow. And we're also gonna talk about his film Friendship with the great Tim Robinson, which is coming out soon. So check it out. And we're gonna start this episode the way we always like to, which is a fan or a friend or someone who knows our guest so they can tell me what they think I should ask. We have a very special guest, another member of the handsome man club, and that is John Hamm, who has known Paul Rudd forever and I believe is calling in from the set of a film right now where he is about to get on a hot air balloon. This episode is presented by the Toyota Grand Highlander. Life is going to throw grand challenges your way. And the Toyota Grand Highlander is ready for them. You can choose from three different power trains, gas, hybrid and the available 362 horsepower hybrid max. All with available all wheel drive and towing capacity of up to £5,000. But what you really want to know is how good will it look? Well, the Toyota Grand Highlander is now available in a hybrid nightshade special edition with gloss black accents and 20 inch black alloy wheels. So it'll look pretty sweet in your driveway. From daily routines to life changing adventures, it's up for every grand challenge. Learn [e-mail] GrandHighlander Toyota, let's go places. What do you say?

[Jon Hamm]

Polarino Cam?

[Amy Poehler]

Please explain. Explain to me what we're seeing right now.

[Jon Hamm]

You know, it's a typical day in Hollywood. I'm in a tuxedo at 7 o'clock in the morning with a hot air balloon in the background. I just got off that hot air balloon.

[Amy Poehler]

So you're telling me you got off a hot air balloon and you got on the phone so you could talk to us on good hang and a tuxedo. Well, I assume you're always wearing a tuxedo.

[Jon Hamm]

I mean, it kind of feels that way. Right.

[Amy Poehler]

How many tuxedos do you own?

[Jon Hamm]

You know, when I moved into the house that I live in now, I think I sold or got rid of or donated or something. Probably 15 tuxedos. And I probably still have a double digit amount of tuxedos. None of them fit. Yeah, none of them fit. I was shocked that this one fit. This is. This is one of mine. They said, do you have a tuxedo? The costume designer came over last night. I was like, yeah, I got. Come on, just come over to the house and take a look and see whatever tuxedo you want to have.

[Amy Poehler]

You're like, let's go to my white tuxedo closet.

[Jon Hamm]

I did have two.

[Amy Poehler]

So you're wearing your own personal tuxedo?

[Jon Hamm]

Yes, personal tux.

[Amy Poehler]

Well, thank you, because I would expect nothing less. How much time do you have? Five minutes.

[Jon Hamm]

I have some time. We're turning around, so, yeah, we have time.

[Amy Poehler]

For those that don't know, turning around is a movie term that means shooting.

[Jon Hamm]

The other way from what you just shot. So you have to move all the equipment and everything and everything has to move. That's why all the trucks are moving and all the. Let's see if I can.

[Amy Poehler]

There's a hot air balloon. There's a hot air balloon. Listeners, if you're listening, let me just describe that. John Hanson.

[Jon Hamm]

I really hope there's a video component to this, because beautiful.

[Amy Poehler]

There is. There is a video component. He's in a beautiful white tuxedo and behind him is a hot air balloon that he just got off of.

[Jon Hamm]

Doesn't this frame look like I'm thinking about a hot air balloon right now?

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, we're talking to Paul Rudd today. Yes, we do this thing.

[Jon Hamm]

He's your friend of many, many years.

[Amy Poehler]

We do this thing where we kind of talk behind their back before we talk about them. We talk to people that know them. Can you tell me where you first met Paul?

[Jon Hamm]

I first met Paul in St. Louis, Missouri. Paul was roommates and friends with my high school girlfriend's older brother. So this. And then this family was dear friends of mine too, and still remain. They were all at my wedding. Like it's a whole. It's a whole thing, that Clark family. So Paul came back with Preston, the older brother, for Thanksgiving or something one weekend. And he looked like Michael Hutchins. He had like long curly hair. He had. It was. It was probably 1990, 89 maybe. And he couldn't have looked any cooler. He had a denim jacket that he had painted or had. Had Painted. Someone painted on the back the COVID of Duran Duran's Rio.

[Amy Poehler]

Wow.

[Jon Hamm]

The Donald bagel painting, that very 80s thing. So he was operating at a much higher level than anybody we had really ever run into at that point in our lives.

[Amy Poehler]

Was he older than you at that?

[Jon Hamm]

Yeah, he's two years older than me. So he was. He was a. A freshman in college when I was a junior in high school.

[Paul Rudd]

And.

[Jon Hamm]

Yeah, that's when I first met Paul. And it was like he was funny and. And cool and interesting and. And. And, you know, a college kid.

[Amy Poehler]

And did you become friends instantly? Like, you really connected fast.

[Jon Hamm]

We definitely connected. I would say that, you know, Paul. That was when they were. When Paul and Preston were going to KU Kansas University. And then when I ended up going to the University of Missouri, I went to visit Paul, who had by this point gone, transferred out of KU and moved to LA and was going to the Academy of Dramatic Arts. And he lived in North Hollywood with Preston. And our friend Beau and I came out for spring break to hang out with them. That's when I really became friends with him because we were hanging out in. In LA. Thanks. In LA, really just making a scene in 1991, 92. So we would go down to, like, the third street.

[Amy Poehler]

Just in jean jackets.

[Jon Hamm]

And like a bunch of cool guys. Yeah, it was. There was a place called Yankee Doodles that was like a bar that had pool tables. That was where we went.

[Amy Poehler]

And you were all, like, auditioning.

[Jon Hamm]

At that point, I was still in college. Paul had just booked a big Nintendo ad, so he was just riding high. And then by the next time I came out, when I came out. When I moved out here after college in 95, he had done Clueless and he was on the way to go do Romeo and Juliet, and he was on the way to the stars. So it was crazy. That's. I watched it all happen. You know, he was. He was. He was. He was the first one of us that really got famous. It was very, very cool.

[Amy Poehler]

That. What was that like to have a. Like, I. I know. I remember my first friend who was famous. Like, when I moved to New York, Jeanine Garofalo was my first famous friend. And it was a trip. What was it like?

[Jon Hamm]

They're operating again. They're just operating in different circles. And you're like, oh, right. Those are the people that I read about. Because he read about them back then. It was like Premier magazine had a feature on Paul or Entertainment Weekly or something.

[Amy Poehler]

He was like a big brother.

[Jon Hamm]

Big brother for sure. For sure. Even though he stands about a foot shorter than me.

[Amy Poehler]

Let's be honest, nobody's taller than you, Ham. Look at you. You literally look like you own this town. John is now walking through the fake town in his tuxedo, getting ready to get back on the hot air balloon.

[Jon Hamm]

Yes. Yes. Here it was.

[Amy Poehler]

Wow. You look like a billionaire who's just having a good day out.

[Jon Hamm]

This is literally. If I was a billionaire, I would take my hot air balloon to work.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, so what question do you think I should ask Paul? We're asking people what I should ask him.

[Jon Hamm]

You know, I was. Because I listened to your guys thing with the one you guys did with Tina, which I thought was so good, and you guys had such a great rapport.

[Amy Poehler]

I texted you guys, john's getting in the hot air balloon right now.

[Jon Hamm]

And we. I loved. I loved you and Seth and Dratchy and everybody coming at it. I think the question I think you should ask Paul is at what point or I was asking this to Billy Crudup on the set the other day. What point or has it happened yet in his career or in his life has he lost?

[Paul Rudd]

Let me know when.

[Jon Hamm]

Freaking out about being good all the time from an acting standpoint. You know what I mean? I don't have that. I don't have that stress anymore.

[Amy Poehler]

Yes. What do you think?

[Paul Rudd]

I love.

[Jon Hamm]

I love what I do, and I love doing it. And I know if I don't do a great job, I'll do it again and it'll be good on the second take or whatever.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, my God. This is so exciting. Guys. Listeners, John is about. He's rolling, I think. Are you rolling? Going up.

[Jon Hamm]

Going up. Yeah, we're about to roll.

[Paul Rudd]

Okay, so that's.

[Jon Hamm]

That's what I would ask him.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay. When did he stop freaking out about doing a good job? Like, is he settled in?

[Jon Hamm]

Maybe he. Maybe he still hasn't.

[Amy Poehler]

Maybe still hasn't.

[Jon Hamm]

And I want to know, when did that nickel drop?

[Amy Poehler]

When you come on. I want to ask you that question. Can you keep your phone on while you go up in the balloon?

[Jon Hamm]

I can't because I'm on camera.

[Amy Poehler]

Damn it. Oh, I hate Hollywood. Hate.

[Jon Hamm]

So dumb.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, I love you so much. Thank you so much for this.

[Jon Hamm]

Love you, Fuller.

[Amy Poehler]

Can't wait to see you, buddy.

[Jon Hamm]

All right, buddy.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, talk to you soon. Bye. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. Apple Card is a no fee credit card that gives you daily cash back every day. That's 3% back at Apple and 2% back on every purchase made with Apple Card using Apple Pay. Apply for Apple Card in the Wallet app on your iPhone today Simply subject to credit approval. Variable APRs for Apple Card range from 18.24% to 28.49% based on creditworthiness rates as of January 1, 2025. Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Salt Lake City branch terms and [e-mail] Woohoo. I don't even know where to start. Paul Rudd is here. So exciting. Rudd, you and I have known each other a very long time. I would say over 25 years now, maybe, right?

[Paul Rudd]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

Do you remember the first time we met?

[Paul Rudd]

Was it maybe at. I don't know. Is this a test? It is a test.

[Amy Poehler]

Not only is it not a test, but I can't remember anything. Good, good.

[Paul Rudd]

Perfect.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, great.

[Paul Rudd]

We're right there. I want to say, was it maybe it might have been at a UCB show early on or there was another time, I think I was at TV 10th Street Lounge with Janine Garofalo, maybe.

[Amy Poehler]

My first famous friend.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah, it was around that time because we kind of both moved to New York somewhat around the same time.

[Amy Poehler]

When did you move?

[Paul Rudd]

Like 95? I think so. Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

95, right. From Kansas. You moved?

[Paul Rudd]

No, I was in California. Gone to an acting school for a couple years.

[Amy Poehler]

What kind of school?

[Paul Rudd]

The American Academy of Dramatic Arts. It sounds like.

[Amy Poehler]

What do they call it? What's the shortened version?

[Paul Rudd]

Or ada?

[Amy Poehler]

Ada?

[Paul Rudd]

I don't know. There's Ada Lambda Rada. I went to Bata, too. You went? Yeah, I couldn't get into Kata. That was the next one.

[Amy Poehler]

And what did you do there? Did you do, like, constant plays?

[Paul Rudd]

So much theater, Amy.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, so much talking about theater. Let's have our tea about before we talk about.

[Paul Rudd]

Listen to the enjoyed sip.

[Amy Poehler]

You know, the thing about theater is.

[Paul Rudd]

The thing is, you know, Pinter said once.

[Amy Poehler]

You know, I remember Godot.

[Paul Rudd]

Oh, I remember we were doing Malfi at the Round Wharf, Bobby and I, and we were in between Guillaume. We were in between matinee and evening.

[Amy Poehler]

Performance when I was understudying for Dani in the Deep Blue Sea. I remember thinking, if we could have done crimes this way of the Heart.

[Paul Rudd]

Yes, yes, no, absolutely. It's funny you should say that, because when Rene Aberjinois and I were doing Mattress, Once upon. Once Upon A, we had this exact same conversation about, you know, mattress.

[Amy Poehler]

I was in Once Upon a Man Drew.

[Paul Rudd]

Tis Pity, She's a Whore.

[Amy Poehler]

I was in Once Upon a Mat.

[Paul Rudd]

By the Way I just buried tis Pity She's a Whore, which is a real play.

[Amy Poehler]

What was your high school musical or play?

[Paul Rudd]

High School Musical. South Pacific.

[Amy Poehler]

And you played Buzz? Buzz was just created. Is Buzz in the show?

[Paul Rudd]

I think he's in the show. He's a pilot. I think he maybe had a couple of lines. But I loved dramatic films and dramatic actors and I thought, oh, and this is what you're supposed to do. And so then I got to college and it was like, oh, I'm studying Shakespeare, which I'd never done before, and found that I really liked it.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah. And what were you doing to make a living during that time? What was your jobs? So many jobs.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah, I was going to school. I was a. I would DJ and mc. Bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs.

[Amy Poehler]

That's right.

[Paul Rudd]

I did for that. I did that for a while because it was. I could work on weekends.

[Amy Poehler]

Right. What was your go. What was the Party Pumping song? What was the song that would get people on the floor?

[Paul Rudd]

Well, there.

[Amy Poehler]

Cnc Music Factory.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah. Oh, sure. I mean, big. That was big.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Paul Rudd]

There was also the. Just the real fun of just a straight up mony mony that Billy Idol would do because.

[Amy Poehler]

Come on, that part.

[Paul Rudd]

Come on. Here she comes now say, Monet. Monet. Hey, now get laid. Get fucked. And that was like. That was.

[Amy Poehler]

I forgot about that. Get laid. Get laid.

[Paul Rudd]

And you would always find like 13 year olds going.

[Amy Poehler]

They were like, finally, are you gonna say this?

[Paul Rudd]

And then I'd look around and see kind of like the grandparents.

[Amy Poehler]

So then you go to school, you come to New York.

[Paul Rudd]

I went to this acting school in California, ada, which is where I met Adam, by the way. That's how we became friends.

[Amy Poehler]

Tell us how you met Adam. You're cute.

[Paul Rudd]

So it was. I was probably Adam Scott. Adam Scott. I was probably 21 and Adam was maybe 17 or 18 years old. Maybe I was 22 and he was 18. And there was like a party. The school's only like two couple years. It wasn't big, but this. I do remember the first time I met Adam and it was. Somebody was having a party and we hit it off right away. We talked and I want to say we talked about REM and. And then. And we became. We became pretty tight, pretty good friends. Not that long after that. He went there after I did. And then we did a. And then we did a play together. Cause I graduated from that school and I stayed in California for a few years and then tried to get a play going. That One of the teachers, a woman named Diana Stevenson at that school, she had said, let's do this play about Byron and Shelley called Bloody Poetry. And so it was a small little cast, and Adam and I did it together.

[Amy Poehler]

You did. Do you have any recording of that or anything?

[Paul Rudd]

I have a recording of the play, yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

And it's the two of you playing Byron and Shelley.

[Paul Rudd]

He played Polidori.

[Amy Poehler]

He played Buzz.

[Paul Rudd]

He played Buzz. He was the Buzz in Bloody Poetry.

[Amy Poehler]

Did you audition for any John Hughes stuff?

[Paul Rudd]

No, that was before my time. Yeah, I loved it. I did, too, but I auditioned for different things, and I didn't really get them. And then. And then I did audition for Clueless, which was like the John Hughes things. And I went in. I didn't really get it. I was reading that script. I'm like, oh, this is like a bunch of kids, huh? This reminds me a little bit of those movies I used to. I grew up watching. And then I got this audition to go in, and I remember there were other characters. I'm like, oh, that's a. That's a cool character. I hadn't seen the character, like Christian before like this. I liked it. There was a gay character that was not being made fun of, but it's like kind of the coolest character.

[Amy Poehler]

The bar was so low. Then it was like, hey, he's gay and nice.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah. And it was just like, oh, wow, this is like, I haven't seen this movie really before. And anyway, so I went in and I asked to audition for all the different parts. And then they said, well, what about Read for the part that I wound up playing, which is Josh character? And so I did. I didn't really hear anything afterward. And I remember I'd really. I had long hair. And then a couple weeks later, I wasn't even thinking about her. I just went to a. I was walking past a barber shop, and I just went in. I said, just buzz my head. I mean, my hair was down about there.

[Amy Poehler]

Wow.

[Paul Rudd]

And they went. And they just went with the clippers, everything. I was just like, I just want to cut it all off. And then week later, I went into a restaurant, and Amy Heckerling, who directed the movie, was eating there. And she looked at me and she.

[Amy Poehler]

Was like, wait a minute.

[Paul Rudd]

She froze. And she goes, what did you do? What did you do to your hair? I was like, ah, I still like shape.

[Amy Poehler]

She was like, this is getting too long.

[Paul Rudd]

She goes, you were in. You auditioned for this part. We were gonna. You were gonna maybe gonna get this part, but you can't cut your. I was like. And I was so. I'm like, ah, well, if it's meant to be, it's meant to be. Like, I wasn't. I was so stupidly kind of cavalier about it.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Paul Rudd]

But then I had to do a screen test for Clueless, and they put me in a wig to try and match what my. What my hair used.

[Amy Poehler]

And there is nothing that feels more manly than a. Than when you're trying to get. When you're trying to get chemistry and to get like, sweetheart, don't pull my hair too much.

[Paul Rudd]

Eventually, like, enough time had gone by that anyway, they're like, yeah, this is not gonna work.

[Amy Poehler]

Just grow your hair out.

[Paul Rudd]

And so they. They skipped the wig. And by the time it got to filming, my hair had grown enough that it worked. Okay.

[Amy Poehler]

That's an amazing story. Because what it says to me too, though, and I find this about you as a person, is like, you do not have a grasping energy when it comes to work. Like, you care about it very much. It's really important you choose things wisely. You work really hard when you're there. But I don't get a sense from you that you are. I don't know, there's a way. There's a vibe with you and work that feels like a healthy attachment. It doesn't feel like you're, what the kids would say, very thirsty. And therefore, I think it's. People really lean into that and like, that. Would you think that.

[Paul Rudd]

Would you say that's true in some regard?

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Paul Rudd]

I don't think, like, I don't feel competitive with other actors. I'm a real big fan of a lot of other actors. I get really excited by people who I like are talented.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Paul Rudd]

And I don't think this should be torturous. I know this is something you and I both really share, which is, this should be fun. It's a really fun job. You respond to comedy in the same way I do and that it should be a fun experience. Have you had the experience where you're working on something and it's like, might be funny and people say, oh, if you find it funny, it's not going to be funny. And you. It's supposed to be torturous, otherwise it won't work. It looks like you're having. If you think it's a blast, it's not going to translate. And I think I couldn't disagree with that more.

[Amy Poehler]

Agree. What do you do when you're on a project and someone's either Ms. Like, what's your conflict style? Because do you get quiet when you're mad? Do you yell?

[Paul Rudd]

I certainly have yelled. My God. Ow.

[Amy Poehler]

Stop. Okay. You yelled.

[Paul Rudd]

And don't you dare say anything like that to me.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay.

[Paul Rudd]

Ever again.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay.

[Paul Rudd]

Ever.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay.

[Paul Rudd]

Are we done with this? So my conflict style is probably different depending on who I have a conflict with.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, right.

[Paul Rudd]

And more often than not, I'll check out.

[Amy Poehler]

That's what I was going to say. I was going to say go to sleep.

[Paul Rudd]

Maybe I'm just going to be like.

[Amy Poehler]

Like, I'm so tired.

[Paul Rudd]

This is going to be over soon.

[Amy Poehler]

If I just get in this bed.

[Paul Rudd]

And just go to sleep, I'm just going to. I mean, I'm just going to try and I got to ride this out. I can't go anywhere. I got to do this.

[Amy Poehler]

I can't get in one of those pods and just deep freeze myself till this gets fixed.

[Paul Rudd]

Exactly right. Deprivation. Sensory deprivation tank.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay. I do wanna ask you about our working together, because we did it quite a bit. We worked together quite a bit. We've been so lucky to work together on so many things. And we worked on the most. One of the most fun movies, Wet Hot American Summer. And I think it was fun for a million reasons. It was fun. Cause we were all in our 30s and we were at a summer camp. It was fun because a lot of us were, myself included, were like in the beginnings of things.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah. We were all kind of starting off.

[Amy Poehler]

We were. And we had great leaders in Michael Showalter and David Wayne, who were kind of like goofing around and. And setting the tone. But also serious writers and filmmakers. We also met a bunch of lifelong friends on that movie. And it felt very, you know, pre 9 11, frankly. It was like before the. Those times. It just felt like of another era.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

And it was like, pretty.

[Paul Rudd]

I don't even remember having cell phones.

[Amy Poehler]

There were no cell phones. There was a. Remember, there was a payphone.

[Paul Rudd]

Yes.

[Amy Poehler]

And everybody would call.

[Paul Rudd]

Yes. Up front. Yeah, yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

To their.

[Paul Rudd]

That's right.

[Amy Poehler]

You know, significant others and be like, yeah, I guess I'm up here for another three weeks. I know. They changed the schedule. Yeah, yeah.

[Paul Rudd]

Do you remember we had to leave for a week in the middle of.

[Amy Poehler]

Shooting because there was an actual camp.

[Paul Rudd]

No, because somebody rented it out for a bar mitzvah and we all left for a week and then had to come back.

[Amy Poehler]

That's right. I forgot about that. Now. It's kind of legendary. People know that it rained the whole time, 25 of the 28 days or whatever the shoot was. And we had to pretend it was sunny and it was freezing cold.

[Paul Rudd]

Freezing.

[Amy Poehler]

What do you remember about staying warm or the weather when we were shooting? Wet hot.

[Paul Rudd]

I remember in those brief moments when it was sunny, we all were like, oh, my God. It was like, what can we film? What can we do? What could. But, you know, I remember the opening scene that we did when we were all around the campfire when they're playing Jane, that it had been pouring and it was like we're sitting soaking wet everywhere and freezing. It was all freezing. It was freezing all the time. I remember. I remember the kind of. The clothes we were wearing at the time.

[Amy Poehler]

I remember being really grateful. And this isn't the first time that I'm grateful that, like, I didn't have to wear, you know, like, Liz Banks was kind of playing, like the girl who was a little bit more free, let's put it that way. And she had to wear, like bikini tops and stuff. And I remember many times in my life I had this feeling where I'd be like, I'm so happy that I get to wear, like a Members Only jacket. I'm so cold. Whereas now I run very hot. But back then I was so cold. I mean. And I remember being really grateful that she. I remember her having a dance and it being really cold.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah. And I remember going to Salvation Army. Do you remember that?

[Paul Rudd]

Mm.

[Amy Poehler]

We would all head out to Salvation Army.

[Paul Rudd]

Yep.

[Amy Poehler]

Because the thing that people didn't know is we worked very little.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah. And whoever wasn't filming had. Because we were. There was a 30 minute drive to Target in the main.

[Amy Poehler]

I don't even think it was Target. I think it was just.

[Paul Rudd]

It might have been a Walmart. It was Walmart.

[Jon Hamm]

Yeah.

[Paul Rudd]

It might have been pre Target. And whoever wasn't filming had to go buy the beer.

[Amy Poehler]

Yes. For the night.

[Paul Rudd]

And we were all wearing, like, kind of, you know, Wellingtons. And then we would all just hang out and drink beer. And drink beer. Play guitar. They have guitars and play music really loud, really late.

[Amy Poehler]

Do you remember David Hyde Pierce.

[Paul Rudd]

Yes.

[Amy Poehler]

Coming out to tell us to. Can you be a little quieter?

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah. It was his first. He showed up. No one. We were all like dumb kids. Just wanted to have a blast.

[Amy Poehler]

But a reminder, we were not kids. We were in our 30s.

[Paul Rudd]

Or you were late 20s, I think. I was 30. Yeah, you were late 20s. I was 30. And then. And David Hyper showed up. He was coming in later, but he was also the. Except for Janine, the only One that anyone would really know.

[Amy Poehler]

Totally. He was famous and we didn't.

[Paul Rudd]

We were all like, what is this guy gonna think? And we. Art. We all slept in those kinds of. Like, in the infirmary. Everyone had these little. Kind of their own little rooms and cots or whatever it is. And then the main infirmary where we would hang out as a group every night till, like, 1 and 2 in the morning. Playing music really loud was the main part. And I remember it was his first night. None of us knew him. And it was like one in the morning, and it's so loud. He's filming the next morning, and he's.

[Amy Poehler]

Been in his room and he probably is rehearsing. He's doing everything. He's a professional.

[Paul Rudd]

He's a professional. And I remember he came out and then stopped in the doorway, and we all. It was like the needle on the record. Stop. Everyone got quiet, and we all looked, and Ken Marino just goes, oh, great, it's Frasier. Do you remember that? Yes. And David Hyde Pierce is like, what are you guys doing? Like, he was.

[Amy Poehler]

He was so fun.

[Paul Rudd]

So fun and cool, and it was just like, oh, thank God.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, he was the nicest, most loveliest guy.

[Paul Rudd]

He was the best.

[Amy Poehler]

But he definitely was like, what's happening here? What's going on? And we were like, oh, none of us are working.

[Paul Rudd]

None of us are.

[Amy Poehler]

We don't have anything to shoot tomorrow. Nope, we're here. There's no telephones.

[Paul Rudd]

And then whoever did have to shoot, we'd all just go watch their scenes.

[Amy Poehler]

Just go watch it.

[Paul Rudd]

We'd just go watch it. It was like it was being at camp.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, it was. It really was. I'm having a Ken Marino memory. He was watching the. He was. He was watching ER on a little. Like, there used to be these TVs you could hang around your neck. Do you remember these? It was almost like a portable tv, but it almost looked like a monitor. Like what? Like Flavor Flav would wear, like a big, giant clock. But it's a tv, and you have the strap around your neck. That is my memory. And again, I don't remember things well, but he was watching on a small tv. And he came running through the hallway saying, she went back to Clooney. It was the big moment. Where. Do you remember this? Where Julianne Margulies, Nurse Hathaway. Carol Hathaway, went back to Clooney. Like, you know, met him at his boat. Spoiler alert. Met him at his boat in Seattle. And he came running with, like, tears streaming down his face, saying, she went back to Clooney, and we were all like. I mean, we really did live together for many weeks.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

It probably was only like three weeks.

[Paul Rudd]

I think it might have been more like five or six.

[Amy Poehler]

I mean, it's ridiculous. For how long?

[Paul Rudd]

I mean, with the week that we had off for the bar mitzvah included, I think that's. Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah. And that was Bradley Cooper's first movie, I think.

[Paul Rudd]

Was it Banks?

[Amy Poehler]

Might have been Banks, maybe. Yeah. And that was just so. There were so many great people, but.

[Paul Rudd]

I don't remember, like, filming scenes and everyone's, like, kind of watching. You were the one that I would go to, and I'm like, was that funny? Was that kind of. You know, I really valued your opinion on everything.

[Amy Poehler]

And I would go. I'd say, go back out there. Do it again.

[Paul Rudd]

Do it again.

[Amy Poehler]

I'd say, I didn't feel it.

[Paul Rudd]

Ask for another one.

[Amy Poehler]

I'd say, yeah, Paul, you want to ask for that?

[Paul Rudd]

You want to ask for.

[Amy Poehler]

Go ask for another one.

[Paul Rudd]

You want to answer.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay. Then we made a movie called they Came Together. Such a fun movie. So fun for people that haven't seen it, which is probably a lot of people, because it was kind of a small movie.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

It was like a fake rom com.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

And it was taking all the tropes. A David Wayne special. Taking all the tropes of, like, what is funny about those movies? And I would say we just screened it again in. We just had, like, an anniversary. It was so fun.

[Paul Rudd]

Oh, man, I wish I was.

[Amy Poehler]

And watching it again, it was like, you are perfectly cast. I would probably not cast. I would not be cast in a rom com in that part. I would be the friend in the rom com. I don't think I would be able to pull off the rom com. I don't have the symmetry for it. But what is. So.

[Paul Rudd]

I disagree, but go ahead.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, thank you. But little slow on that, but.

[Paul Rudd]

Well, I didn't want to interrupt you.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, thanks. But what is so fun about it is. It is so stupid.

[Paul Rudd]

This most stupid, stupidest movie ever.

[Amy Poehler]

And don't forget, in the middle of that movie, there's a. It stops to have a music video with Norah Jones, who sang the song from that movie that Adam Scott and John Stamos show up and do cameos in, because they come to the studio.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah. The video for the song. That's the song on the soundtrack of the movie.

[Amy Poehler]

Is in the middle.

[Paul Rudd]

Is in the middle of the movie.

[Amy Poehler]

And then Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler, the Actors show up to be like, what's happening here? And we're wearing sunglasses.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah. Soul patch.

[Amy Poehler]

You had a soul patch?

[Paul Rudd]

I had a soul patch. But it's like, yeah. Us in our street clothes.

[Amy Poehler]

In our street clothes. And then our buddies also come to, like, play with some of the buttons. Yeah.

[Paul Rudd]

They're in this. Not mixing boards. And we're just, like, hanging out, goofing around with Nora Jones, Professional, incredible musician. Yeah. And then after the video ends, it just goes right back to the movie.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Paul Rudd]

How did this movie get made?

[Amy Poehler]

So stupid. It's so dumb. It's so fun to watch again. It is so dumb. I mean. And I know we share that, like, that feeling of dumb. It's hard to explain. That feeling of. I mean. Well, I guess everyone understands it. That feeling that you have with your friends when something is so stupid and so funny. I think it is truly, like, the opposite of your own mortality. Like, it feels like you'll live forever when you're laughing at dumb. Does that make sense?

[Paul Rudd]

It makes total sense. It's the greatest. And that endorphin.

[Amy Poehler]

Yes.

[Paul Rudd]

Everything just kicks in, and you're like, oh. Oh, this entire life is absurd.

[Amy Poehler]

Yes.

[Paul Rudd]

All of this.

[Amy Poehler]

That's right.

[Paul Rudd]

Everything. The absurdity of existence.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah. What are you listening to? Watching? What do you. What makes you laugh right now?

[Paul Rudd]

All kinds of different things, I suppose when people talk about comedy specials and stuff, I always say, oh, have you seen Patrice O'Neal? Elephant in the room. That's one of my favorites.

[Amy Poehler]

So funny.

[Paul Rudd]

It's like the fact that Patrice O'Neil. That we lost Patrice O'Neill when we did, where I feel like he was on the verge of just being the guy is just heartbreaking. I think he was just so funny.

[Amy Poehler]

I feel that way about Bernie Mac, too.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah. Really, really, really funny.

[Amy Poehler]

Gone too soon.

[Paul Rudd]

And that's one of my favorite. One of the things I just kind of. I always seem to watch. I mean, I like little memes and things that get passed around. Like the guy jumping into the pool, that it's frozen over and he doesn't know. It just, like, wipes out. That kind of stuff is people falling. Forget it. I love it. But I love. I always go back to news bloopers.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, God. Let's just watch. Hold on. Let's just watch a few.

[Paul Rudd]

Great.

[Amy Poehler]

Do you have any that you remember that, like, I can Google?

[Paul Rudd]

Well, you know, there are these. There's just something so beautiful and great about people that they. It's the news. It's serious. And when Something goes wrong. You know the gay blind one.

[Amy Poehler]

That one is.

[Paul Rudd]

That's. That is. That is.

[Amy Poehler]

That is the most incredible.

[Paul Rudd]

That is the. I've watched that so many times. It's what, four seconds? The blind.

[Amy Poehler]

It is.

[Paul Rudd]

Mountain climber. Right after the break, we're going to interview Eric Weihan Meyer, who climbed the.

[Amy Poehler]

Highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest.

[Paul Rudd]

But he's gay. I mean, he's gay. Excuse me. He's blind. So we'll hear about that coming up. Okay.

[Amy Poehler]

As we head to the break.

[Paul Rudd]

Okay, okay, okay. And as we head to the break, and. And, you know, wait a minute. Because you. You know, and her. In her, like, oh, boy, I just messed up. And he is like, I'm just gonna pretend that didn't happen.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay.

[Paul Rudd]

Okay. So. All right.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, my God.

[Paul Rudd]

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Blind. He's blind.

[Amy Poehler]

So I. I love bloopers.

[Paul Rudd]

Bloopers.

[Amy Poehler]

I feel like we grew up with bloopers.

[Paul Rudd]

Nothing. When I see people really laughing and really, like, there's in those news bloopers. Here's one. There's one. It's these two guys. They're speaking a language I don't understand.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay.

[Paul Rudd]

It's like, I don't know what. By the way, some of the ones in that, like, news in other countries.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, I don't even think to look for that. I'm going.

[Paul Rudd]

I'll go in. I'm not going. Best news bloopers of 20, 23 or 22.

[Amy Poehler]

I've seen them all, like, global news bloopers. That's what I'm finding right now.

[Paul Rudd]

I will watch those over and over again. But there's, like, one where these two guys and somebody says something, and I don't know what he's saying, but the other guy says it, and he starts laughing, and they both start laughing, and they are crying, and they're on the ground crying, and I don't know what the hell they're talking about. And I'm. Tears because there's God, I do love God.

[Amy Poehler]

I love that. Why do we love?

[Paul Rudd]

I mean, is there something. It's the opposite of pretension. It's pure joy. It's defenseless. It's the purest. It's celebratory. My wife has said before, this is such a good idea. She goes, they should have. In hospitals when people are going for chemotherapy or whatever, and they're sitting in the chair for hours, they should have on screens all around, just bloopers from people laughing.

[Amy Poehler]

That is a great idea.

[Paul Rudd]

It's A great idea. And I agree. Like, if I see people laughing really, really hard, I'm done. I love it so much.

[Amy Poehler]

I love it so much.

[Paul Rudd]

It's the greatest.

[Amy Poehler]

Me, too. Speaking of laughing really hard and speaking, I think of a show that did help a lot of people during hard times. You were on Parks and Rec. You only did five episodes. You know that. I know, but you played a character that stood the test of time. I mean. I mean, if only. If only we had Bobby Newport. Just a guy who wants to be liked.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

And who I know.

[Paul Rudd]

If only. Right.

[Amy Poehler]

I mean, Bobby at the time means.

[Paul Rudd]

Well, just doesn't quite grasp any of it.

[Amy Poehler]

He wants to go to the after party.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

Bobby Newport, played by you, was the, like, the rich son of the Sweden's family. The family, the Newports, that owned the big factory in the fictional town of Pawnee. That Parks and Rec took place. And Bobby Newport ran against Leslie. And it was like, what Bobby had that Leslie could never get was that. Gee whiz, like, I can't believe I fell into this. Like, I just want to have a good time, you guys.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah. I think that's even a line. That's how Bobby feels about abortion, isn't it?

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, yeah, right. What did he say about abortion?

[Paul Rudd]

I guess my thoughts on abortion are just like, when everybody just have a good time.

[Amy Poehler]

I just want everybody to have a good time. I mean, come on, guys.

[Paul Rudd]

What?

[Amy Poehler]

And Bobby kept getting flustered by Leslie wanting it. Cause he wants it. Like, there's that great scene where he's like, can you just drop out of the race? Cause I want it.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

Cause I want it.

[Paul Rudd]

I want it. Come on, please. You could do it. Just do it. Come on.

[Amy Poehler]

And people were like, I don't. I love the guy. He's great. And he doesn't seem to want it. Yeah. And he doesn't know anything, but neither do I. That's.

[Paul Rudd]

You know, Leslie Knope is capable and great for that job. Bobby Newport is not.

[Amy Poehler]

No. And Bobby was, I think, was thinking, like, maybe I'll just get it and then Leslie, you can do it.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah. How about that? That's a good compromise.

[Amy Poehler]

What are your memories of doing that character? Such a funny character. You were so great.

[Paul Rudd]

Thank you, Amy. My memories of that were, I can't believe I get to work with my favorite people in the world, you and Adam and Catherine and Rasheeda. And, like, it was like, this is the dream. I mean, this is. You know, I remember when you were talking to Tina on the very first episode. You did where you were saying you feel like the. How. The great thing that can happen if you are able to sustain enough of a career that you can get to a point where you work with your friends or you get to work with people you really like, because it's not work. It's just. It's just the best. And, I mean, it was such a fun character, obviously. And the show is so great, and you're so great in. Was just. It was a dream. It was a dream. And, you know, and I was. I loved it. I loved every second of it. I loved hanging out with all you guys.

[Amy Poehler]

It was so fun.

[Paul Rudd]

It was really fun.

[Amy Poehler]

It was. And that. And it was. Those scenes were so funny. Like, he got. You got to do the stupidest Talk about fun. Stupid. The stupidest stuff.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah. Well, there's nothing. There's nothing funnier to me than unearned confidence.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Paul Rudd]

Like, just somebody feels like they've, you know, I've got it figured out, and it's like, no, you don't. Yeah, but. But if it's. And if it's. If it's, like, nice under. Like, if it's fun, it's really funny. If it's not nice. Unearned confidence. But that was the thing of, like, he had a lot of kind of unearned confidence, but he had. He was just dumb.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah. He wanted to have a good time.

[Paul Rudd]

But he's a nice. He was sweet.

[Amy Poehler]

He was sweet.

[Paul Rudd]

And that. And that was. And that was a fun. That was kind of. That's a fun thing to get to play. It's a fun kind of character to get to play.

[Amy Poehler]

Would we describe him as, like, guyless? Is that the word?

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah, I think that's a good way to do it. Yeah, there's.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, I know that word. So just wanted to do.

[Paul Rudd]

That's a really good. By the way. Of course you do.

[Amy Poehler]

Fucking great word.

[Paul Rudd]

He has a fucking great word.

[Amy Poehler]

Fucking great word. God damn. You know, it also was really cool to watch you and Adam in scenes together, because. Have you been in a lot of stuff together?

[Paul Rudd]

Not a ton of stuff.

[Amy Poehler]

I know. And it was.

[Paul Rudd]

It's weird. He's like my kind of, like my closest, oldest friend, and we have. But we haven't done a ton of stuff together.

[Amy Poehler]

Like, would you ever do a movie together?

[Paul Rudd]

I'd love it. He's such a good actor.

[Amy Poehler]

He is.

[Paul Rudd]

He's a really. I mean, clearly, everyone's obviously.

[Amy Poehler]

He's such a. Recognizing this.

[Paul Rudd]

They've known this for a long time.

[Amy Poehler]

I talked to him in real time when he was acting, I'd be like, you're acting so good. And he'd be like, shut up. We're in the middle of the scene. But I'd be like, you're acting so good.

[Paul Rudd]

Well, he's like. He's one of, you know, he's so good, and he really can play very complex, emotional scenes, and you really kind of know what that character is thinking. But then he also has a way of being able to kind of remove this. Have this kind of emotionless removal of whatever he's doing that's really interesting. Which plays into severance, I think, very well.

[Amy Poehler]

And you can do that, too. To be a movie star, you have to be able to make your face still. You have to be able to just get the machine on neutral for everyone to project.

[Paul Rudd]

And he's very good. It's like a Greek mask kind of thing. So Adam is great at that. And the one thing that I always thought with Adam when I met him is he's the funniest. He's got the driest, kind of most irreverent sense of humor. I mean, it was. That's how we became friends. Cause of just. He liked a lot of the same kind of jokes and things like that.

[Amy Poehler]

I just watched the Severance finale, and I texted him. I was like, you are so good at acting. And then he was like, oh, thanks. I'm glad you watch it. And I was like, there was so much running, like, I haven't seen it yet.

[Paul Rudd]

I've seen it. I haven't seen.

[Amy Poehler]

I've Been Away finale.

[Paul Rudd]

No.

[Amy Poehler]

So, yeah, it hasn't been spoiled.

[Paul Rudd]

No. I'm staying away from everything. I don't look at my phone. I don't do it.

[Amy Poehler]

You know, that's why you can't be on TikTok. If you're on TikTok, you. You got about an hour.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

And then it's.

[Paul Rudd]

It's like.

[Amy Poehler]

Then there's, like. There's audios made of weddings.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah, I know. And I. I know, I know. So, yeah, I've been able to avoid all that. And I've told him. I'm like, I haven't. I haven't reached out to you yet.

[Amy Poehler]

Because you're saving.

[Paul Rudd]

I haven't seen it yet.

[Amy Poehler]

And you're just edging. You're not gonna. You're not gonna watch the finale, by the way.

[Paul Rudd]

I'm not gonna really watch season two. You're like, I'll tell him he was great in it. But I mean, anyway. But He. He is. He really is terrific. And you know that better than anybody.

[Amy Poehler]

Well, this is a perfect segue to male friendship.

[Paul Rudd]

Okay?

[Amy Poehler]

Because you have. So let's chug. Hold on. Let's chug our teeth.

[Paul Rudd]

Chug it.

[Amy Poehler]

I mean, this was. That is such a good.

[Paul Rudd]

I think I'm out.

[Amy Poehler]

Let's get some. Let's get six more teeth.

[Paul Rudd]

I gotta cover this, so. You're so. For a sponsorship. No one knows what I'm drinking. You can't see any labels.

[Amy Poehler]

You can't. No. The inside of my mug is filled with labels.

[Paul Rudd]

I'll lose that cap in case someone figures it out.

[Amy Poehler]

And then, by the way, this is some. I should say, this is my. Oh, my God, Paul's peeing under the desk look.

[Paul Rudd]

This is a long podcast, and I want to walk away and interrupt the flow, so to speak.

[Amy Poehler]

Have you ever done that? Like, on a trip, peed in a bottle?

[Paul Rudd]

Never.

[Amy Poehler]

I have. Really? That's great to hear. Because, you know, you are. I mean, you're. There's not a lot of straight men. Like, they. You're the first.

[Paul Rudd]

There's a few.

[Amy Poehler]

Well, I guess I. I guess there's a few. But you are a straight white male.

[Paul Rudd]

I mean, so I feel seen.

[Amy Poehler]

So how's that going for you? Because it's, you know, it's not easy out there. I mean, by the way, straight white male in his 50s.

[Paul Rudd]

I mean, now's our time.

[Amy Poehler]

But you guys get to pee in bottles.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

On the road.

[Paul Rudd]

That is true. It is one of the good things you do.

[Amy Poehler]

You get to pee. Guys, you get to do a lot of, like, you know.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah. Pee in a bottle.

[Amy Poehler]

Straight white men get to pee in bottles. Or, like. And up until just five minutes ago, that was okay. And now people are like, maybe don't throw your pee bottles out on the street. And straight white males are like, fine.

[Paul Rudd]

Whatever.

[Amy Poehler]

Whatever.

[Paul Rudd]

Howard Hughes did it.

[Amy Poehler]

But straight. You have a movie about two and the friendship between them with the great Tim Robinson, and it's called Friendship.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

And it is. I got to watch it.

[Paul Rudd]

You did.

[Amy Poehler]

Yes. I watched a screener. I'm trying to do my homework as a podcast person.

[Paul Rudd]

God, you're good.

[Amy Poehler]

And it's so tiring. Oh, movies are so long. They're, like, two hours long.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah. By the way, everything's so long. And having to do. Even if it's, like, something you're interested in with people, you know, or, like, it's all work.

[Amy Poehler]

But I did really want to watch the movie, I have to say, because I Love you. I love Tim. I loved Tim is. And Andy DeYoung is awesome.

[Paul Rudd]

Isn't he great?

[Amy Poehler]

He's great. And the director and writer. And it is a movie, it is such a good movie about the loneliness epidemic of men and the attempt at making a friend and then like, what goes wrong? Like how. I mean, it's about missing. I mean, it's Tim. Tim at his Timmist, which is like he's missing the clues and he's getting them wrong.

[Paul Rudd]

I know.

[Amy Poehler]

And you play this really, really funny. Like, he's kind of a tender hearted nerd. He's not as cool as you think he is as you learn to.

[Paul Rudd]

No, not at all.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay. Friendship, though. You've done a couple movies about that.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah. One thing that I feel like I've always had, like, I've been good at in my life is picking friends. It's the one thing that even, like when I was in grade school and I didn't. I was not like the, oh, I'm friends with everybody. Like, I was not that kid at all. But I. I could. I think I have. I could recognize, like nice people. And so my whole life, my. All my friends were. They were kind of funny and nerdy in all the ways you want your friends to be nerdy and, and decent and. And so I just want to, like, you know, it's like you want to hold on to people you care about. And the other thing too is you and I were talking about this. I think in a way we live weird lives because they're public lives. And it can be a little overwhelming with the noise of the world and the noise of this job and everything else is you kind of want your world to be smaller each year that goes by. I just kind of want it smaller. And I want the important stuff to count. And to me, the most important stuff that I've learned, probably because I'm now 55 years old, is that, oh, the pinnacle, the height of it is just being with the people that I love and really laughing with like a bunch of friends. It's the greatest. It's the best thing there is. And so that is. I just always try and cultivate that.

[Amy Poehler]

Well, we tried to cultivate it by talking to your friend Jon Hamm today.

[Paul Rudd]

Oh, another long time friend.

[Amy Poehler]

I know.

[Paul Rudd]

I've known John longer than I've known Adam.

[Amy Poehler]

And it sounds like you were a big brother to both. Like, you're a couple years older than both. Right. So we do this thing where we kind of talk well behind somebody's back. And try to figure out stuff that they think I should ask you. So we talked to him before you came in today, and Jon Hamm from Mad Men. And for those five people that don't know who I'm talking about. And let me just explain what he was doing when we spoke to him. He was wearing a white tuxedo. His own.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

He was on the set of a movie, which I think you might also have a part in at some point or maybe we'll see. Yep. He was working on a film, and he was getting off of a hot air balloon that he had just been on. And he spoke to us in the 10 minutes before he had to go do another take. And so he spoke to us as he got on the hot air balloon about you.

[Paul Rudd]

Oh, my God, that's amazing. That's incredible.

[Amy Poehler]

Incredible. And he was really sweetly talking about the first time you met long hair. You had your long hair. You had your jean jacket. And you remember what was painted on it?

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah, that I had painted on the back of it? Patrick Nagle. Uh, yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

You had painted it.

[Paul Rudd]

I painted it.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay.

[Paul Rudd]

I'm like, I need this. I want to get a good acid wash jean jacket, but it needs a Patrick Nagle print on the back and I'm just gonna have to paint it myself. Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

Beautiful. He remembers that. He was like. He was the coolest guy ever. And he was talking about how you guys met, and it was very sweet because it made me think about both Adam and John. And you have known each other a really long time.

[Paul Rudd]

I've known John since he was. I want to say maybe about 16 years old.

[Amy Poehler]

What was a 16 year old? Little ham. Although was he ever short?

[Paul Rudd]

But no, he was all. He might have been 17, 16, 17 around there. He was, well, talk about the coolest guy in the room. It was not me. I recognized that in him right away. He was really handsome, he was smart, he was athletic. He was all of these things. And I know all of this cause he was friends with the girl that I liked that he was. And that was how I was he.

[Amy Poehler]

With the girl?

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah, they used to go out and then they. He got out. The girl. Yeah. But they knew each other for years and years way before me, and. But I was always a little bit like, okay, this guy.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Paul Rudd]

Oh, how do I compete with that guy?

[Amy Poehler]

And you're like, I'm gonna grow my hair.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

And I'm gonna get her away from that jock. Yeah, I'm gonna.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah, I'm gonna grow my hair out. Like, she's going to look at my hair and go, wait a minute. Do you know Michael Hudgens?

[Amy Poehler]

It's funny that you say that, because Ham described you as like, Michael Hudgens.

[Paul Rudd]

Michael Hudgens. Well, that's. I mean, that's high praise.

[Amy Poehler]

But you were. I. But I like what you're doing. You're like, I'm going to go the other way. I'm going to go. I'm going to be the art. Art guy.

[Paul Rudd]

Well, I was, you know, I was certainly drawn to that. And I think that was probably because I didn't have the ability to beat.

[Amy Poehler]

The other guy, because Ham was the sports guy.

[Paul Rudd]

Ham was like, Ham was sports. And he was just. You know, I remember we were. I have such a vivid memory of all of us playing Trivial Pursuit. And I'm just meeting John, the girl that he was friends with, that I was dating at the time. We're all playing. We're playing in teams. And he would roll and immediately go, like, oh, sweet. I'm gonna go to history. I'll go to yellow.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, yeah, That's a power move. And then it's not art. Not pink.

[Paul Rudd]

Not pink. I'm going to entertainment. Every time, of course, he's like, questions about Dallas. This guy is going to yellow. And then all of a sudden, it's like, he gets a question. What's the biggest lake in Africa? And he's like, victoria. Yep, Yep. That's a pie. That's a pie piece. And I'm sitting there going.

[Amy Poehler]

Then he goes over to green like a real asshole.

[Paul Rudd]

He's like, give me all this stuff. Science and nature. Are you. Are you gonna be that guy? And so I was so kind of. Here's what I do remember. Afterward, after that game, I'm like, I should probably, like, read. Read some atlases. I read an atlas to know about.

[Amy Poehler]

The world, to know where countries are.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah. Because this younger guy, who is clearly superior and was.

[Amy Poehler]

I probably did. He was He. You were dating.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah, but they were friends, so I was a little threatened.

[Amy Poehler]

Wow, that's so. And I want to get this girl on.

[Paul Rudd]

Well, we eventually became like, you know, obviously after a while, and it's a longer story, but we did become really, really tight.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Paul Rudd]

And really good friends. Yeah. And it's great. And we've been really great friends since.

[Amy Poehler]

I know you all are.

[Paul Rudd]

One of the things that really makes me laugh. You go, like, what makes me laugh? And it is. And I have told this story, and I have nothing to do with this story, but it's when you got the news about your doctor.

[Amy Poehler]

I know.

[Paul Rudd]

And he was hosting snl, the best. It's so smart. And do you. You tell it?

[Amy Poehler]

Yes. I mean, I think he has also told it a lot, too, so I. You know. But Jon Hamm was the host. And you hosted, like, two weeks after, right?

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah. Not that long afterward. Yeah, yeah. That was the last time.

[Amy Poehler]

2008, I was pregnant with my son. Archie Ham was the host. I was supposed to deliver the baby on Sunday, so I thought I was gonna do the show on Saturday and then deliver the baby the next day, which, wow, True psycho. Like, I just thought, like, well, this makes sense, and I'll have the baby on Sunday. And I learned my first of many lessons of, like, your kids are on their own schedule and they don't work with you. But we rehearsed all day on Friday. I was in nine sketches or something that week. Six days before I had done the Palin wrap, I was still feeling pretty good. John was the host for the first time. Friday, we're shooting, like, a Mad Men pre tape. I get a call that my ob GYN has passed away. A wonderful doctor who was in his 80s, who was this incredible doctor, he passed away. And I burst out crying on the phone. And when you see a very, very pregnant person hysterically crying, it's very scary. And the whole crew gets really quiet, and I go behind a partition to talk, and I find out the news. And I come out and everyone's like, are you okay? And I said, oh, my God. My. My ob GYN just died. He just died. Passed away of a heart attack last night. And it gets really quiet, and Ham leans in and says to me, this is a really big deal, and I need you to get your shit together. This is the first time I'm hosting, and I need you to fucking.

[Paul Rudd]

It's a big week for me. If you gotta pull it together, pull it together.

[Amy Poehler]

And I go from crying to laughing so hard that, you know, like. Like, squirts, like. Like, squirt tears come out, and I start laughing, like, clapping and laughing. And it was. And it was so fun and funny and. And again, a great example of, like, life is, like, life is what you say it is, right?

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

It's. It's. Life is what you make it and what you say it is. And he made me laugh so hard. And I went into labor that night. And I think a lot of it.

[Paul Rudd]

Was that because of the emotional rollercoasters, the release of that. And I think it's also not Just a testimony to him, to you, that he knew that. It's like, you're gonna find this funny.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Paul Rudd]

And it's because that's. That's because that's you.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah. I mean, he was so great in that episode. And in fact, Seth Meyers and Lonely island have a great podcast about. You should check that out, about that Ham episode. It's really good. And they talk about all that stuff happening and how everyone had to fill in, and Seth had to do update alone. And it was like this incredible night.

[Paul Rudd]

I remember. And he did the.

[Amy Poehler]

I know. Incredible night. Yeah, and. And. Yeah, and kind of a big day for me, too. Cause I delivered a baby.

[Paul Rudd]

Wait, what?

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah. Not to brag. Not to brag, but Ham wanted me to ask you this before we go. Do you still worry about doing a good job every time you're acting? And I think the deeper question there was, when you get to a point where you can approach a job without that, worry about whether or not it's gonna go well or you're gonna do well, are you there? And if so, how and when did you get there?

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah, no, no. I still worry. I sometimes think, like, I think I'm getting worse at this. If you can get worse at this.

[Amy Poehler]

Directors, listen up.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah. No, there are times when, you know, it's such a. It's a strange thing where it's like sometimes on one day or something, you feel like, oh, this is. I got it. I know how to do this. I feel like I've really kind of figured some things out. Just, I've. I've got my. At this point, way more than 10,000 hours in. And. And then other times you're like, wow, I'm not. I don't. I can't do that. I don't know how to do this, and I don't. And it's. The mystery of it is a little frustrating and bewildering. And so I do feel like I don't have a handle on it all the time, but I do feel also more relaxed about aspects of it. I know how some of this stuff kind of just the technical sides of things, how they work. I understand editing. I understand how, like, I can. Like, I can do a scene. It's like I'm picturing it as how the editor will see it or a director, and where you would do a cut point. And these kind. Certain things you just learn over time. But I don't ever feel 100% comfortable. I don't think.

[Amy Poehler]

Do you ever watch a scene and think, I Wish I did that differently.

[Paul Rudd]

Oh, yeah, yeah, certainly. And you have that thing on, like, the drive home. You're like, oh, why didn't I, you know, say that?

[Amy Poehler]

Or I have a scene in Wet Hot that makes me think of. That is when the scene where we're, like, out in the town. I remember, like, we're all supposed to be like, you know, it's that joke that we go out in the town for the hour. For the hour. For the hour. That's right. We go out for the hour, and then we all turn into, you know, drug addicts, basically. By the end, we're in a fight.

[Paul Rudd]

You're sitting next to the crackhead, and.

[Amy Poehler]

We'Re smoking crack at the end of the hour. And I sometimes, especially early on, and maybe still there's just times when I went pretty big and, you know, I think back and I just think, like, oh, should I just like, dialed things down a little bit? I made some choices. Sometimes they worked, but sometimes they just. It would have been. Maybe. That's one scene that I look at. I'm like. I wish I had just gone a little smaller, and I think it would have been funnier. Is there anything that comes to mind that you. Yes.

[Paul Rudd]

Here's why I would say that, though. I think you're wrong.

[Amy Poehler]

What are you gonna say, I'm right? What are you gonna say?

[Paul Rudd]

I think you're hilarious in that scene.

[Amy Poehler]

Thank you. But it's a little bit. It's a little big.

[Paul Rudd]

I. I sometimes think, you know, people say less is more. Sometimes more is more. And it doesn't. You go big if it's, like, coming from a real place. I think that was. You were hilarious.

[Amy Poehler]

Please stop yelling at me.

[Paul Rudd]

And don't you ever look at me.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay.

[Paul Rudd]

Amy, look at me.

[Amy Poehler]

I am.

[Paul Rudd]

I don't want to.

[Amy Poehler]

I'm looking at you.

[Paul Rudd]

Okay, you're not looking at me. You're looking at the table.

[Amy Poehler]

I'm looking at you.

[Paul Rudd]

You're not. This eye is kind of looking at me, and that eye is looking at the.

[Amy Poehler]

Paul's face. I think I go too big. I'm worried. I'm worried about it.

[Paul Rudd]

That is such a. That is such a good. God, you still surprise me. I don't think I've seen you do that. It's like that just. Just the weird just.

[Amy Poehler]

Or you just look right over this.

[Paul Rudd]

It's like doing that weird thing. It's like there's no real. There's no. There's nothing particularly, like, specific about it. It's just like something's off. But you don't really know.

[Amy Poehler]

I don't know what you're talking about.

[Paul Rudd]

You know, it's like you, the eye. Like that is. That is. You've clearly, like, you need corrective lenses, but you're not wearing them.

[Amy Poehler]

Just my. I'm getting. When I get tired, my eye gets.

[Paul Rudd]

A little wonky eye.

[Amy Poehler]

And you look like I just have.

[Paul Rudd]

A thing with my lips.

[Amy Poehler]

You got a little surgery. You just got a.

[Paul Rudd]

It's not that I got a little surgery, it's maybe that I need a little surgery.

[Amy Poehler]

I love you, Paul. Thank you for having me. Love you, Amy. Doing this so much. It means so much. Thank you for doing it.

[Paul Rudd]

Oh my God, I'm so happy to do it. You're great at it.

[Amy Poehler]

Check out Friendship Coming out in theaters. No, there's no theaters.

[Paul Rudd]

No theaters. Theaters, yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh my God. In shock.

[Paul Rudd]

They still exist. I don't know if people go.

[Amy Poehler]

No, they don't go.

[Paul Rudd]

I'll tell you though. No, they should go for. Look, you know me. Why do I want to go in.

[Amy Poehler]

My living room and my couch?

[Paul Rudd]

I don't promote anything. I do. It's the lamest thing ever. I don't want everyone to talk about it. We didn't have to talk about this. But I will say Tim Robinson is frickin hilarious. He really is like, kind of the guy.

[Amy Poehler]

Hilarious.

[Paul Rudd]

I got to see this movie in a theater with people and I was like, oh my God, I forgot what it's like to see something that like everyone is laughing at, like, and having that kind of shared experience. And it was really, it was. It made me so happy and also kind and like nostalgic.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Paul Rudd]

And like almost sad. It's like, oh, yeah, this used to exist, remember?

[Amy Poehler]

Like, well, I still love this too. When you watch previews and there's always some joker that's like, no thanks. I was like, you know, like, oh, God, I love that. You were just someone going like, woo.

[Paul Rudd]

I remember as a teenager seeing Footloose.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, I saw that in the theater seven or eight times.

[Paul Rudd]

I saw it in the theater. It was so good. I went back and watched it the next night. I went twice. Yeah, yeah. So many times. That movie in the theater.

[Amy Poehler]

I gotta get Kevin Bacon on here.

[Paul Rudd]

Oh, you got. You've got to. Footloose is so Ren McCormick in the. So I remember this scene where John Lithgow hits.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh yeah.

[Paul Rudd]

His daughter.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, Laurie Singer.

[Paul Rudd]

Laurie Singer. And hits her. And then it's shocking. And it cuts to the next scene and he feels terrible and he's saying to his wife, Dianne Wiest, I've never had anyone in my entire life. And somebody in the back row goes, liar. And the entire theater lost their shit. And I was crying. Like, that's the funniest thing.

[Amy Poehler]

Liar.

[Paul Rudd]

Liar. And to this day, I still think of it.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Paul Rudd]

And it's like I was 14 years old, whatever. However old I was. Maybe older than that. But like, you don't get that at home on your couch.

[Amy Poehler]

You don't get it at home.

[Paul Rudd]

You don't get it.

[Amy Poehler]

That's what Paul and I want to encourage people to shout out at the movie theater.

[Paul Rudd]

That's right. That's what it's there for.

[Amy Poehler]

Whatever you want. You know what? You know, the fabric of society is fraying. Just say, do.

[Paul Rudd]

Say whatever you want. And look, do whatever you want. If you're in the movie theater with people and you can't think of something to say, just get on your phone, Google some things.

[Amy Poehler]

Scroll or if Shyna. Or put your flashlight on and try to find somebody else who's enjoying that.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah, go like, hey, what should we yell out?

[Amy Poehler]

Yes. Or, you know, if you're like, if you really like something, run up to the front.

[Paul Rudd]

Yes.

[Amy Poehler]

And stand in front of the screen and go, I really like this.

[Paul Rudd]

How about this? What do you guys think?

[Amy Poehler]

Anything to get you there.

[Paul Rudd]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, my God. Okay. I can't wait to go to the movies. All right. Love you, Paul.

[Paul Rudd]

Love you.

[Amy Poehler]

You're the best. Thank you for doing this.

[Paul Rudd]

Woo.

[Amy Poehler]

Food. This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. Summer is almost here and you can now get almost anything you need for your sunny days delivered with Uber Eats. What do I mean by almost? Well, you can't get a summer blockbuster delivered, but you can get a block of cheese. A cabana, that's a no. But a banana, that's a yes. A day of sunshine? No. A box of fine wines? Yes. Uber Eats can definitely get you that. Get almost. Almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now for alcohol. You must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. Apple Card is a no fee credit card that gives you daily cash back every day. That's 3% back at Apple and 2% back on every purchase made with Apple Card using Apple Pay. Apply for Apple Card in the Wallet app on your iPhone today. Subject to credit approval. Variable APRs for Apple Card range from 18.24% to 28.49% based on creditworthiness rates as of January 1, 2025 Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City branch terms and [e-mail]. you know, I realized with both Jon Hamm and Paul Rudd, I mentioned Jeanine Garofalo who was one of my first friends in New York and like I said, kind of the first person that I met who I had seen on TV first. And you know, I just want to remind everybody to take a listen and a watch. Jeanine has done so much great comedy and remains such a sharp and funny, deeply interesting, curious person who's, you know, still performing and still, you know, she's just like a Gen X legend. Janine. We used to care about selling out and she never did. And Janine was always so kind and so helpful to a lot of young comedians and actors and people, myself included. She was instrumental for a lot of us in, you know, I don't know, feeling cool and feeling like we were part of a club. So watch Truth About Cats and Dogs, watch Romy and Michelle, you know, reality Bites. Watch the Larry Sanders Show. Janine is just consistently good and such a good actor and so funny and I'm just feeling nostalgic for our times together and maybe hope she wants to come here and talk to me. So thank you for listening to another episode and we will see you soon. You've been listening listening to good hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss Berman and me, Amy Poehler. The show is produced by the Ringer and Paper Kite. For the Ringer production by Jack Wilson, cat Spillane, Kaia McMullen and Alaia Zaneris for Paper Kite production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell and Jenna Weiss Berman. Original music by Amy Miles. This episode is presented by the Toyota Grand Highlander. Life's journey brings constant change, filled with exciting surpr new chapters and grand challenges. And the Toyota Grand Highlander is more than a vehicle. It's your partner in embracing all life throws at. You blinked and the kids have grown up. The third row can fit three adults. From daily routines to life changing adventures, the Toyota Grand Highlander is up for every grand challenge. Learn [e-mail] GrandHighlander Toyota let's go places. This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. Summer is almost here and you can now get almost anything you need for your sunny days delivered with Uber Eats. What do I mean by almost? Well, you can't get a summer blockbuster delivered, but you can get a block of cheese. A cabana. That's a no. But a banana? That's a yes. A day of sunshine? No. A box of fine wines? Yes. Uber Eats can definitely get you that. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. For alcohol, you must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. C app for details.