Jewish actor Paul Rudd, known for his roles in “Ant-Man” and “Clueless,” recently said that if he could meet anyone, he’d like to meet Jesus. The 55-year-old actor is Jewish, but he said he doesn’t identify as “particularly religious.” However, while promoting the film “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” the actor told IGV Presents that if he could talk with anyone throughout history, he’d want to speak with Jesus, and he wasn’t ashamed to say so.
Rudd declared, “Anyone from history, who would we choose? I know my answer, Jesus Christ.” His co-stars, Mckenna Grace and Finn Wolfhard, broke out in laughter. Rudd said, “By the way, laugh all you want! It seems like it would be a wrong thing to say.” Wolfhard then asked, “Was He real?” Rudd responded, “He existed! So wouldn’t you want to spend some time with him and go ‘Jesus, what’s the deal?”’ Grace replied, “That’s a fantastic answer.” Still waiting for his co-stars’ answers to the same question, Rudd fired back, saying, “Come on. I got Jesus. Who do you guys got?” Rudd said, “You say this, and people think like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, you can’t say that,’ and I’d say, ‘Well, why?’ That’s who I would choose.” The “Ant-Man” actor has two children with his wife, Julie Yaeger: son Jack, 17, and daughter Darby, 13.
In a previous interview with People Magazine, where Rudd spoke more about his family, he said, “When I think about myself, I think of myself as a husband and a father, like I’m that. I just hang out with my family when I’m not working. That’s what I kind of like the most.” Although he doesn’t consider himself to be religious or leading his family in that way, Rudd has previously spoken out about his Jewish faith. “My whole family is Jewish; my wife, Julie, is Jewish — there isn’t anyone in my family who isn’t Jewish,” he told Jewish Journal in an interview back in 2012.
Rudd continued, “I was bar mitzvahed Reform; we were pretty laid back, but it’s like, oh yeah, I went to synagogue. We have a lineage that is so many thousands of years old that you just relate. It is a tribe; it’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s my team,’ and I feel that for sure.” Rudd’s father, Michael Rudd, died in 2008. In an interview with People, the actor described the spiritual ideas that his father, a British immigrant and Vietnam veteran, shared with him. During one conversation in particular about “religion and spirituality,” Rudd said, “It was a major moment to have with my dad.”
Rudd told People that if he could speak to his father now, he would ask him what the afterlife is like, including whether or not he got to meet all of his dead relatives. “Did you stop at the grandparents’, or did you have great-great-grandparents that you never knew that were like, ‘Mike, finally. Great to see you.’ Wait till you see what this whole thing’s about. Get ready for your mind to be blown.’”