Paul Rudd Almost Played a Different Character in This ‘90s Cult Classic

Paul Rudd revealed that he originally auditioned for a different character in 1995’s Clueless.

On the May 28 episode of Therapuss, the Ant-Man star spoke to host Jane Shane about how he got cast in the cult classic comedy at just 24 and how he initially wasn’t set to play Cher’s step-brother and eventual love interest Josh.

The Alicia Silverstone film was the “second movie that I ever did, but it was the first one that ever came out.” The film is a loose adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma and follows a “beautiful, popular, wealthy” high school student who wants to do “good deeds.”

The actor had just graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts when he landed the audition, although it wasn’t for a specific role. The movie co-starred Brittany Murphy, Elisa Donovan, Stacey Dash, Donald Faison and Wallace Shawn, and grossed $88 million worldwide against a $12 million budget.

“I had gotten an agent and I’d read some scripts that were, you know, they’d send scripts. I’d try and get auditions here and there. And then this movie was getting cast,” he explained, per People. “They were making this movie, and there were a lot of parts for young people, kids and stuff. So I read the script and I liked it. I thought it was smart, and I thought it was kind of interesting.”

LOS ANGELES – JULY 21: The movie “Clueless”, written and directed by Amy Heckerling. Seen here from left, Paul Rudd (as Josh) and Alicia Silverstone (as Cher Horowitz). Theatrical wide release, Friday, July 21, 1995. Screen capture. Paramount Pictures. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)

When Shane asked Rudd if he knew how big the movie was going to be, he admitted, “No, not at all,” before explaining that the fim’s success “was a bit of a slower burn.”

“I think with cable and DVDs and all of that, it was successful when it came out, but it wasn’t a smash. I think just over time, it just kind of hung on,” the actor, who is promoting his new movie Power Ballad with Nick Jonas, said.

Despite being unsure of its success, Paul noted that “there was something kind of exciting” after the cast’s first table read, as they hoped they would make a John Hughes film for their generation. “‘Wouldn’t it be cool to be in a movie that for a generation that this is a movie that they kind of will be able to quote later on and was important to them,'” he remembered them thinking during the filmmaking process. “But you never really think that will actually happen. And then it kind of happened.”