Koki Nagahama/Getty Images for Disney
Paul Rudd seems to have found his place in Hollywood.
The 50-year-old actor appeared to have a moment of clarity after seeing Brad Pitt‘s performance in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
“I thought, my God, what a movie star, just so cool,” he told The New York Times in an interview published Tuesday. “[Leonardo DiCaprio]’s no slouch either!”
To be clear, Rudd is a star in his own right. He’s won audience over with comedic classics like Clueless and Anchorman and broken into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Ant-Man. He’s also starring in a new Netflix series, Living With Yourself, which debuts Oct. 18.
Still, he feels like audiences don’t marvel over him the same way they dote over other celebrities.
“I came to terms pretty early on that I was not going to be the guy up there that people would watch, going, ‘Yes! That’s who I want to be!'” he told the newspaper.
However, Rudd is OK with this. While he admitted Pitt-like roles are “not coming my way,” he’s “not fighting for them” either.
“Because the truth is, I don’t quite relate to them in the same way that I relate to a guy who is mildly depressed or put-upon, and trying to fight his way out of this common situation,” he said.
When acting, Rudd doesn’t have “any sort of grand statement to make, to anybody”
“I don’t want people to know that much about me, really,” he told the publication. “I don’t have much of an interest in being an open book.”
However, Rudd experienced a whole new level of fame after he started appearing in blockbusters like Avengers: Endgame.
“I noticed a heightened awareness,” he said. “It seemed as if, no matter where I was, people had just seen the movie or they were going to it. Kids had seen it, and then parents of kids knew their kids had seen it.”
He’s also aware of his internet fame and fans’ fascination with his ageless appearance.
“It’s certainly nicer than hearing, God, that guy looks like [expletive],” he said. “I don’t know what to say about any of this—there’s nothing really to say about it.”
Regardless of how he feels about his own level of stardom, fans can expect to see a lot more of Rudd. For instance, he’s also set to star in the new Ghostbusters film, which hits theaters in 2020.
To read his full interview, check out The New York Times.
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