LOS ANGELES: Paul Rudd, the star of many MCU films and comedies like "Clueless" and "This is 40", has been named People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive for the year 2021. The announcement was made during a comedy sketch on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on Tuesday.
Rudd said he is going to "lean into it hard" and not try to be modest about being selected as Sexiest Man Alive. "But all of my friends will destroy me and I expect them to. And that's why they're my friend," he added.
In the cover story of the magazine, Rudd joked that he has a fair understanding of how people will react to the news. "I do have an awareness, enough to know that when people hear that I'd be picked for this, they would say, 'What?' This is not false humility. There are so many people that should get this before me," the actor added.
He revealed that when he shared the news of him being selected for the title of Sexiest Man Alive, his wife Julie Yaeger was "stupefied".
"She was stupefied. But you know she was very sweet about it. After some giggling and shock, she said 'Oh, they got it right'. And that was very sweet. She was probably not telling the truth, but what's she going to say?" the 52-year-old actor said.
Rudd said he hopes that his life will change after getting the title and he is looking forward to the day when he'll be invited to "some of those sexy dinners with Clooney and Pitt and B Jordan".
"And I figure I'll be on a lot more yachts. I'm excited to expand my yachting life. And I'll probably try to get better at brooding in really soft light. I like to ponder. I think this is going to help me become more inward and mysterious. And I'm looking forward to that," he added.
Rudd joins fellow honourees that include John Legend, Dwayne Johnson, Chris Hemsworth, Idris Elba, Adam Levine, Channing Tatum and David Beckham. On the work front, Rudd currently stars in Apple TV Plus series "The Shrink Next Door", which is set to premiere on November 12.
He is also looking forward to the release of "Ghostbusters: Afterlife". Besides, the actor is reprising his Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) role of Scott Lang aka Ant-Man in upcoming movie "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania".