In a recent interview with New York Magazine, actress Kathryn Hahn opened up about why she and Paul Rudd keep bumping into each other on-screen and why she tries not to control anything – in life or in comedy.
“A lot of actors are like, ‘Why do I do this? My character wouldn’t do this? This doesn’t make sense.’ And in a comedy, you kind of just need to walk into the door,” explained the 37-year-old, who stars in recently-released comedy Wanderlust and has an upcoming arc on NBC’s Parks and Recreation. “In this business, you just can’t (be a control freak). It’s just a game. As soon as you take a deep breath, you have the rug pulled out from you.”
Comedy everyman Rudd also stars in Wanderlust and is in the middle of a guest run on Parks and Recreation as well. He and Hahn also worked together on last year’s Our Idiot Brother and 2004’s Anchorman. Is there something more than meets the eye? If twice is a coincidence and three times is a pattern, then what’s four co-billings?
“It’s so amazingly coincidental and accidental. Also, there seems to be this thing where really good people keep working together over and over again, and I am just excited to be invited to the party a couple of times,” observed Hahn before likening cliques of comedic actors and actresses to those found in American high schools. “It’s just like high school. The shorthand makes it so much easier, so much safer, because there’s none of the weird forced politeness and getting to know each other.”
“I feel grateful that the person I end up working with a lot is Paul Rudd,” Hahn said. “He’s a prince among men, and so talented, and generous, and effortless.
