Paul Rudd opens up about early career and surprise casting in ‘Clueless’

Paul Rudd has reflected on his early career breakthrough in Clueless, revealing that he originally auditioned for several roles before ultimately being cast as Josh—and admitting he had no idea the film would become a cultural phenomenon.

Speaking on the May 28 episode of Therapuss, the actor recalled that the 1995 teen comedy was only the second film he ever worked on, though it was the first to be released.

At the time, Rudd said he was just beginning his acting career after graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and navigating early auditions through a newly secured agent.

“I had gotten an agent and I'd read some scripts that were, you know, they'd send scripts,” he said. 

“This movie was getting cast. They were making this movie, and there were a lot of parts for young people, kids and stuff. So I read the script and I liked it. I thought it was smart, and I thought it was kind of interesting.”

When he arrived for the audition, Rudd admitted he did not initially know which character he was being considered for, and instead asked to read for multiple roles.

“I auditioned for Christian. I wanted to audition for Murray… Elton, which was [Jeremy] Sisto’s part. And then they said, ‘Well, would you read for Josh?’” he said.

Rudd was ultimately cast as Josh, the film’s male lead, alongside a cast that included Alicia Silverstone, Brittany Murphy, and Donald Faison.

Despite the film’s later status as a pop culture staple, Rudd said he had no expectations of success at the time of filming.

“No, not at all,” he said when asked if he anticipated its impact. “The whole thing was so new to me. Auditioning was new. I hadn't ever really been in a movie.”

He added that even after production, there was little sense of how widely the film would resonate.

“You can never predict how these things are going to turn out,” he said.

Rudd described an early sense among the cast that they were creating something special, noting that many of them grew up on John Hughes films and hoped Clueless might similarly define a generation.

“Wouldn’t it be cool to be in a movie that for a generation… this is a movie that they kind of will be able to quote later on and was important to them,” he recalled.

However, he said the film’s popularity did not arrive all at once.

“I think with cable and DVDs and all of that, it was successful when it came out, but it wasn’t a smash,” Rudd said. “It was a bit of a slower burn. Just over time, it just kind of hung on.”

Over the years, Clueless evolved from a modest box office success into a defining teen comedy of the 1990s, continuing to gain new audiences through home viewing and television reruns.

Rudd has since built a major Hollywood career, appearing in films including Anchorman, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and the Marvel Ant-Man franchise. His latest project, Power Ballad, recently premiered in select theaters.