The universe was trying to send a message to Paul Rudd: Get the hell out of L.A.
First came the earthquake, then the mugging, followed by five car accidents in the span of a week. It was the mid-‘90s, not terribly long after the release of “Clueless,” and Rudd had already been contemplating moving to The Big Apple to do theater. This series of unfortunate events, and a chance encounter with the actor Tom Hulce, sealed it. Rudd moved to New York City, made his Broadway debut in 1997’s “The Last Night of Ballyhoo,” and never looked back.
It’s fitting, then, that his latest film, “Rain Reign,” is premiering at the 25th edition of the Tribeca Festival. The film marks a “Clueless” reunion between Rudd and Jeremy Sisto, this time warring over how best to raise a child versus the affections of the most popular girl in school, as well as the first collaboration between Rudd and his wife Julie, who produced the film.
Directed by Erika Burke Rossa, “Rain Reign” centers on Rose (newcomer Felice Kakaletris, outstanding), a neurodivergent 12-year-old in a small town who, despite her gentleness and warmth, is struggling to make friends and adapt to middle school life. Making matters worse, her single dad (Sisto) leaves her home alone most nights, drowning his sorrows at the local watering hole. When her beloved dog Rain goes missing, Rose and her affable uncle (Rudd) embark on a mission to find her.
Below, Variety speaks to the seemingly ageless actor about everything from the Knicks’ historic NBA Finals run to getting the gang back together for “Avengers: Doomsday,” out later this year.
I’ve seen you at Knicks games before, so I take it you’re a fan.
Oh yeah.
How do you feel about the current Knicks run?
It’s exciting. I take it you’re a Knicks fan?
Paul Rudd courtside at the Knicks game on October 30, 2013, in New York City
Getty Images
Oh yeah.
It’s amazing, isn’t it? Obviously, this run that they’ve been on has just been incredible — the point differential and how dominant they’ve been playing. It’s so exciting that they’re here in the Finals. I’ve always wondered for decades: If the Knicks were to ever really win the whole thing, this place would go crazy. And New York would go crazy in a way that’s different from the way they do with the Yankees or the Giants — I think they’d go crazy with the Mets or the Jets as well, but there’s something about the Knicks and New York City where I really hope we’ll see it come to fruition.
“Rain Reign” is of course premiering at the Tribeca Festival here in New York City. What do you love most about living in New York City?
Well, it’s the greatest city in the world. I mean, God, if you know you know, right? I’m a sucker for New York City history. Anytime there’s a documentary about New York or any book about New York history, I read it. When the Ken Burns documentary came out, I consumed it voraciously. I just finished reading a book about the Brooklyn Bridge. The city itself puts all of us in our proper place; the city is bigger than all of us. It’s good to live your life and feel a part of it and experience it but never feel bigger than it. This is a place where people from all parts of the globe from different backgrounds can come and do different things and be smushed together and somehow make it work. It creates an energy and attitude that really just clicks with me.
They can’t seem to get the bagels right in L.A., either. They say it’s the water.
I know! I know. I was born here and then moved around a lot as a kid, so it was always just the biggest deal when we’d come back and my folks would be like, “We’re going to go to a diner now! An actual diner!” and “We’re going to load up on bagels because we’re going to take them back with us because you can’t get them in Kansas City.” I have such fond memories of the food growing up here and really everything about this place. Now that I’ve lived here for more than half of my life, I still discover it and reap it all the time.
So, what attracted you to “Rain Reign?” I understand that your wife produced it.
First and foremost was the script. I read it and found it really moving. I also thought, this should be in the world. This is the kind of story where I feel like there are people out there who would find it really important, relatable and inspirational. I felt this should be made, and it has such a positive message with such an amazing lead character in Rose. It’s very special to be a part of something like this.
Felice Kakaletris in “Rain Reign”
Tribeca Festival
Was it especially important to highlight the humanity of neurodivergent children right now? The head of health in this country [RFK Jr.] believes some pretty wacky stuff about neurodivergent children and what causes it. And “Rain Reign” does such a lovely job of humanizing neurodivergent children and not seeing them as some statistic or problem to be fixed.
Yeah. I kind of thought, I bet there will be other neurodivergent kids where this movie would be very important to them for that reason. And the character of Rose is someone we should strive to be like. She’s not a victim. She’s courageous, strong-willed, loving and bright, and the decisions that she makes and the way that she tries to live her life is something that we should all try to emulate.
There’s this wonderful moment where one of her classmates is struggling emotionally and she immediately clocks it and takes her out into the hallway to calm her down.
Absolutely. And after maybe kids in the class have given her a hard time. I love that scene. There are a lot of scenes in the script like that that I found emotional.
The world is crazy right now, so how does Paul Rudd unwind? I sometimes find myself watching reality TV because it allows me to completely turn off my brain and let it rest.
I like to watch sports. I play fantasy sports. You know what? Lately, I’ve been playing a lot of Rummikub. There seems to be something in the air right now. Everyone that I know seems to be playing in mahjong tournaments and wanting to play mahjong games, so one day I was around and my wife was learning it and I spent the whole day at it, and I was kind of getting into it. I was like, alright, I see what’s great about this. But the problem is that you need four people. So my mom was like, “Why don’t you try Rummikub?” So now we have these tiles set on our kitchen table and… I played it this morning! I play a lot of Rummikub. I like crossword puzzles.
When you talk about the noise of the world and how crummy it all is, I feel it, and I have now gotten to the point where I wake up, have coffee and I’ve got to do puzzles because it’s nothing political, it wakes my brain up and it’s a nice way to ease into the chaos that is undoubtedly whipping around outside because this is the state of the world these days.
I feel obligated to ask: As someone from the great state of Missouri, have you ever met West Wilson of “Summer House?” He is a fellow Missourian who is currently bringing great shame on your home state.
[Laughs] I’ve never met him, don’t know anything about him and have never seen that show, but clearly I know enough that I know who you’re talking about! I’ve seen stories and I think I’ve seen a picture of that guy wearing Royals gear.
Paul Rudd poses with Chris Hemsworth’s “Thor” statue at Madame Tussaud’s.
Chelsea Lauren
“Clueless” is one of my favorite movies, and “Rain Reign” reunites you with your “Clueless” co-star Jeremy Sisto. What was it like to get back together with him on this and what are your thoughts on “Clueless” today? It’s really become the definitive ‘90s film teen film in the way that “The Breakfast Club” was for the ‘80s.
It was great working with Jeremy. Jeremy and I didn’t have a bunch of scenes together in “Clueless,” but I knew him then because we were all together throughout that entire shoot, and I’ve seen him over the years — he also is a New Yorker and I’ve been friendly with him for a long time. It was very cool because that was when we were starting off and now here we are working on a movie together decades later, and there’s a unique sense of satisfaction or pride when that happens, like, man, we really have history here! I definitely felt it.
In regard to “Clueless” being a seminal ‘90s movie, it’s humbling to be a part of something that that many people care about. It was at the start of everything for me, so the entire experience was exciting, and I have such fond memories of it and the people involved and getting to act in a movie. To be a part of anything that has legs and means something to somebody is amazing and I don’t take it lightly because God knows I’ve been a part of many things that didn’t have that effect!
Can you just never grow a goatee again though? Is that the one downside?
[Laughs] You know what? I don’t think I’ve ever even tried to grow a goatee. I remember leading up to “Clueless,” and I know it was in the script, but I had these crazy beards, and I used to have long hair, so I thought that if you’re going to grow hair on your face you at least have to have fun with the designs! But it seems as if, yeah, after “Clueless” it’s either full beard or nothing.
I read that both you and Jeremy Sisto auditioned for the role of Jack in “Titanic” and also that Leonardo DiCaprio mentioned to you on “Romeo + Juliet” that he’d been offered the role and you told him to go for it.
I remember he’d been offered the part, and I remember having a conversation with him that he’d just been offered it. Everyone knew that the movie was being made. I certainly did not convince that guy to do the movie, but I remember having a conversation about it with him. My father was a Titanic expert — that’s how he made his living — so I knew a lot about it, and we talked about it. It’s just funny how you can look back on moments like that. It’s really interesting for me to think, huh, I was riding in the car with Leonardo DiCaprio talking about “Titanic” before he signed on to do it. What a surreal moment to look back on and see what became of it.
You may have shaped the course of history.
Nah. I think I just had a “Forrest Gump” moment where I found myself in a very interesting moment with some people that were doing amazing things and I had a front-row seat to it all.
You’ve got “Avengers: Doomsday” out later this year. You’ve been in this superhero world for over a decade now. What was it like for the gang to get back together?
It’s a surreal thing and an amazing thing to be a part of that. I feel like I’ve made friends with so many of the people over the years, and you mentioned how long it’s been and I think, wow, I’ve been with Marvel for a long time — more than I even realize — but I love whenever I see all the actors that I’ve worked with on these things several times, and there’s something unique to Marvel that is: It makes you feel like a kid. When I look around and see all those actors in their superhero suits, there’s something about that that’s just cool. When you see Chris Hemsworth walking around dressed like Thor — or any of them, really — it’s like, wow, this is crazy. You’re aware of how many kids would freak out if they were able to see this.
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