Seeing him again in person was pretty awesome. Paul Rudd is one of those actors that you feel like you know or want to know because he just seems like such a stand up guy. We’re talking all things Ant-Man and The Wasp with Paul Rudd today! Thanks to Disney and Marvel for inviting me to this press junket, all opinions are my own. First off let me tell you about a special moment that I saw what a genuine person this guy is.
Stand Up Guy
We’re all standing around him in the chair (fit for a king-him) during our group photo. Lucky me is standing to his left behind him kind of. We are prepping for the picture and as you can see from the picture he has his hands on his lap. This guy, we was so pumped from the interview you could tell he wanted to embrace us as much as he could. I look down and see him try to put his arms out to hug the ladies standing next to him. I guess it was kind of akward so he just put his hands down on his lap. Donna and Carole missed out. 🙁 I got to picture hug him in Atlanta, so I was cool to be there again.
Photo Credit Dave Parfitt
To me it just shows what a stand up guy he is. And I noticed he wore a cute little ant on his lapel too. He’s great! Support all his movies! LOL
Let’s get into the interview now! Here’s where you want to go first..
How does Ant-Man and The Wasp follow up Avengers Infinity War:
I’ve mentioned how much of a family film Ant-Man and The Wasp is. Paul also agrees and shared it has a special place in the MCU. Many of the films in the MCU are action packed with some strong language and even some with nudity (I’m looking at you Deadpool) that it’s great to have a film that everyone can enjoy. And once you see it, you’ll agree that on the heels of Avengers: Infinity War it was definitely the best choice to come after.
“While we want it to work within the universe and want it to be enjoyable for all ages, we’re dealing with parents and children. This is a theme that runs throughout this story. And a lot of kids want to see these movies and sometimes there’s some scary things in them. Or there’s some violent things in them that might be a little too intense, and so we wanted to make a movie that was enjoyable for lots of people. And as well as we wanted it to be funny, but we also wanted it to be engaging and moving in some way. We wanted it to be visually stunning, even more than the first one. And we wanted the action and the effects to be bigger and better.”
Photo Credit: MomStart.com
Comedy in Ant-Man and The Wasp
We asked Paul about the comedy in the film. Could viewers expect it to be as funny as the first?
“People know the characters and accept us in the roles,” says Paul. “In this one we kind of hit the ground running.”And because of that we were able to lean into comedy or lean into whatever it is we were doing a little bit more, we didn’t have to explain it, we just thought people will go along with this. In Civil War, the Russo Brothers really wanted to lean into the comedy of it. During the first Ant-Man there were many discussions that we all had about where do we modulate this. How serious should Scott be, how funny. Because, you know, it’s a super hero and you’re also Ant-Man, it seemed like a strange one to begin with. So I think everyone was finding their footing a little bit and in this one we kind of hit the ground running. “We feel that we have our own kind of space within this Marvel Cinematic Universe and our own tone with the films,” according to Paul. This allows them to make a movie that is enjoyable for all ages, letting parents take their kids to the movie without worry. “A lot of kids want to see these movies and sometimes there’s some scary things in them, or there’s some violent things in them that might be a little too intense. We wanted to make a movie that was enjoyable for lots of people.”
©Marvel Studios 2018
Being a Father On-Screen
You know how much I love Paul Rudd, and knowing that he has two children of his own, one being a daugther we asked him what his actual daugther will think of him “having another daugther” in the film. His answer was fantastic.
“As far as my character doing a scene with a girl playing my daughter, it’s not far off. My daughter is a little bit younger but not much. And those kinds of scenes are accessible to me because I’ve been in them, I know what that’s like. It’s one of my favorite things because I share that with my own daughter. And she loves it. At first when she was very young, I used to think, is it going to be weird. When my daughter is old enough and she sees this movie, that she’s going to see me playing dad to a little girl. And instead it’s the opposite. I think she really- she really loves it, because I tell her, you know, you’re the real Cassie. And I do little things in the movie that are little things for her.” Um how sweet is he!?!
Marvel Studios ANT-MAN AND THE WASP..L to R: Cassie Lang (Abby Ryder Fortson) and Ant-Man/Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) ..Photo: Ben Rothstein..©Marvel Studios 2018
You now have plans for July 6th my friend. Get your tickets now on Fandango for Marvel Studios Ant-Man and The Wasp!
You’re going to LOVE IT!
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP is directed by Peyton Reed and stars Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Pena, Walton Goggins, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Tip “T.I.” Harris, David Dastmalchian, Hannah John Kamen, Abby Ryder-Fortson, Randall Park, with Michelle Pfeiffer, with Laurence Fishburne and Michael Douglas.
