Top 5 Paul Rudd Roles

Yup, that's him

In honor of the release of I Love You, Man this week, I will look back at the career of Paul Rudd, one of the funniest actors of the last decade. Paul Rudd is considered to be in three of comedies largest groups right now: "The Frat Pack", which consists of comedians such as Will Ferrell and Jack Black, The Apatow group that features Seth Rogen and Jason Segel and "The State" with Michael Ian Black and David Wain. In honor of the actor/writer, here are his five best performances:

Honorable mention: Best cameo:

Rudd has stolen many a scene in his various cameos over the years. He was the Koonu the surf instructor in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, a Tony Montana-like drug dealer in Reno 911!: Miami and even John Lennon in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. But no other cameo was as funny, or as short, as his cameo in A Night At the Museum.

Best Line: "It sure is chilly. Chilly. Chilly-willy. The penguin"

OK, so writing it out doesn't do it justice, but check it out here.

#5 Performance: Lt. Wally Worthington in The Cider House Rules

One thing that may be surprising about Paul Rudd is that the man can act. In his career, he has done his fair share of dramas. In Romeo + Juliet, he was surprisingly good at Paris, 2006's Diggers had him playing a clam digger in Long Island, and he even shared the Broadway stage with Julia Roberts in "Three Days of Rain", but his role in Lasse Hallstrom's 1999 film, The Cider House Rules, showed that Rudd could do more than just make them laugh.

#4 Performance: David in The 40 Year Old Virgin

The 40 Year Old Virgin did wonders to the careers of Stevel Carell and Seth Rogen, but the scene between Rogen and Rudd became one of the most quoted Rudd scenes ever and was one of the greatest improvised scenes in a movie full of them:

Best Lines:

Rudd: "You know how I know that you're gay?"

Rogen: "How?"

Rudd: "You like the movie 'Maid in Manhattan' "

Rudd: "You know how I know you're gay?"

Rogen:"How?"

Rudd: "You like Coldplay."

#3 Performance: Josh in Clueless

For many people, the first role they remember seeing Rudd in is the Nietzche reading, do-gooder, step-brother of Alicia Silverstone's Cher in Clueless. This threw Rudd into a plethora of movie roles in the 90's such as The Object of My Affection and, yes, even Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers. But Clueless gave audiences their first real glimpse at how great Rudd could be.

Best Line:

Silverstone: "I want to do something for humanity."

Rudd: "How about sterilization?"

#2 Performance: Brian Fantana in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

The performance that truly let Rudd shine. In Anchorman, Rudd had to stand out amongst Will Ferrell, David Koechner and Steve Carell. What's so impressive is that he actually succeeded. As Brian Fantana, Rudd showed an elaborate blend of Ferrell-like humor with his own smarmy twist that has shown in some of Rudd's more recent roles in Role Models and I Love You, Man.

Best Lines:

Brian Fantana: "I think I was in love once."

Ron Burgundy: "Really? What was her name?"

Fantana: "I don't remember."

Burgundy: "That's not a good start, but keep going..."

Fantana: "She was Brazilian, or Chinese, or something weird. I met her in the bathroom of a K-Mart and we made out for hours. Then we parted ways, never to see each other again."

Burgundy: "I'm pretty sure that's not love."

Fantana: "Damn it!"

Burgundy: "Let's go to Brian Fantana who's live on the scene with a Channel 4 News exclusive. Brian?"

Fantana: "Panda Watch! The mood is tense; I have been on some serious, serious reports but nothing quite like this. I uh...Ching...King is inside right now. I tried to get an interview with him, but they said no, you can't do that he's a live bear, he will literally rip your face off."

[to the Panda]

Fantana: "Hey, you're making me look stupid. Get out of here, Panda Jerk!"

Burgundy: "Great story. Compelling, and rich."

and the #1 Performance by Paul Rudd: Camp Counselor Andy in Wet Hot American Summer

When it comes to great Rudd appearances, no other performance cracks me up like his

in Wet Hot American Summer. Rudd is over the top, ridiculous, and insane and this clip

shows without a doubt why this is his number one performance:

Best Lines:

Rudd: "You taste like a burger. I don't like you anymore."

Random kid: "Where are we going?"

Rudd: "A secret pizza party"

Rudd throws the kid out of the van.