Paul Rudd has revealed that he originally had no intention of playing Josh Lucas, Cher’s brother-in-law turned lover in Clueless.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Rudd admitted he was interested in playing Christian, Cher’s (Alicia Silverstone) lover, but it turns out Christian is gay. The role was ultimately given to Justin Walker.
“I remember reading, ‘Wait a minute, this is a gay character, who’s the coolest character in this movie?'” Rudd recalled to the outlet.
“I’ve never seen it before and it’s the most interesting part,” the 57-year-old actor added.
Rudd said she was also intrigued by the role of Murray, Dionne’s (Stacey Dash) boyfriend, before realizing the role was black. Donald Faison was cast as Murray.
Director Amy Heckerling ended up having Rudd read for the roles of Christian and Josh. He played the latter role.
However, Rudd was not keen on appearing in the 1995 film even before it was officially cast.
“After the audition, I didn’t talk to my agent on the phone asking, “Did you get in? Did you get in?” he recalled in an interview.
Adam Scott, who went to drama school with Rudd, told the outlet that he knew Rudd’s career would explode once Clueless was released.
“I was with him at the premiere of Clueless in Malibu, and when it showed up on the big screen on the beach, I immediately thought, ‘Oh, Paul’s going to be famous,'” the Severance star said.
“And sure enough, then everything changed. All of a sudden we could walk into any bar and be like, ‘Hey, what’s going on? This is unbelievable,'” Scott added.
However, after Rudd’s sudden rise to stardom in 1995, he was already set to star in the New York production of The Last Night of Ballyhoo, and was unable to take on another role in Hollywood.
“My agent was like, ‘What the hell are you doing?'” the Ant-Man star recalled. “But I was so excited. I was 25 or 26 and I was about to go on Broadway.”
“Clueless,” which also starred the late Brittany Murphy as transfer student Ty Frasier, became a pop culture phenomenon upon its release and remains a cult classic.
