Paul Rudd is PEOPLE‘s 2021 Sexiest Man Alive, the magazine announced Wednesday. The Ant-Man star, 52, talked about the honor in his typical self-deprecating fashion, saying it wasn’t “false humility” when he said there were “so many people that should get this before me.” Rudd joked, “I do have an awareness, enough to know that when people hear that I’d be picked for this, they would say, ‘What?’”ย
The actor is known as one of Hollywood’s hardest-working mainstays, teaming up with Will Ferrell this month for the new Apple TV+ series The Shrink Next Door and starring in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Despite his A-Lister status, Rudd told the magazine he’s most happy at home with his wife of 18 years, Julie, 53, and their kids Jack, 17, and Darby, 12. “When I think about myself, I think of myself as a husband and a father, like I’m that,” he said. “I just hang out with my family when I’m not working. That’s what I kind of like the most.”
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Rudd only told Julie about his Sexiest Man Alive honor ahead of the announcement, earning a “very sweet,” if not totally honest response. “She was stupefied,” he said. “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 Wet Hot American Summer star also expects his friends to give him “so much grief,” which he said was understandable. “I mean I’m going to lean into it hard. I’m going to own this. I’m not going to try to be like ‘Oh, I’m so modest.’ I’m getting business cards made,” he joked. “But all of my friends will destroy me and I expect them to. And that’s why they’re my friends.”
With his new title, Rudd said he plans on his life changing “a lot,” telling the magazine he hoped to “finally” be invited to “some of those sexy dinners with Clooney and Pitt and [Michael] B Jordan.” He continued, “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.”
