Paul Rudd has been named PEOPLE’s 2021 Sexiest Man Alive

Last Updated on November 11, 2021

On this day, November 10, 2021, Paul Rudd has been declared PEOPLE Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive! Why has Paul Rudd been given this distinct honor? Well, just looking at the photos taken for his big moment, they could’ve been easily taken in 1995 or 2021. This is the power of Paul Rudd. He drinks from the same fountain of youth frequented by Jennifer Lopez. We simply don’t deserve him. Just look at the photo below to realize that he merely decided to stop aging to make us wonder how we can do the same.

The 52-year-old actor, who pretty much looks like he did in 1995 when most of us were introduced to him after his breakout role in Clueless (or Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers, pick your poison), had a bit fun with his PEOPLE Magazine interview regarding receiving the tile. Rudd admitted that he’s heard it all about his personality from being called hardworking, to kind, to self-deprecating, but sexy? It seems like this is a surprise to him. Rudd said during the interview, “I do have 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.” You can check out Paul Rudd’s PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man Alive cover below and some more shots from his photoshoot!

Paul Rudd is a rarity in Hollywood. He is genuinely humble and appears to be one of the nicest guys in the business. He’s relatively private, letting his work and good charm do most of the work for him in terms of his fans having access to him. From what I can see, no one really tries to dig to get more from Paul Rudd. Sometimes celebrities aren’t defined by messiness. Sometimes they’re just good people that do good work. Rudd admits in the interview that he’s most proud of his 18-year marriage with his wife Julie and their kids Jack, 17, and Darby, 12. He also revealed that his wife was the first to learn about his new honor:

“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?”

Paul Rudd is also very much in on the potential jokes that may follow now that this has gone public. He fully expects his friends to give him some grief but he jokingly admits to leaning into his new title hard. Rudd said, “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. But all of my friends will destroy me and I expect them to. And what’s why they’re my friends.” Rudd jokingly expresses that, now that he can walk amongst the other sexiest men alive of the past, his life is going to change a bit:

“I’m hoping now that I’ll finally 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.”

The man even has a great sense of humor about all of this. Do YOU think he was the right choice for PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man of Alive? You can check out how Paul Rudd had some fun with the honor on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert below!