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Paul Rudd Says He and Judd Apatow Were Actually 'Pen Pals' Before Meeting in Person for the First Time in the Early 2000s

Paul Rudd's friendship with director Judd Apatow led to iconic roles in films like 'This Is 40' and 'Knocked Up' — and none of them would have been possible had Rudd not reached out to the director first via email.

On the April 28 episode of the Smartless podcast, 56-year-old Rudd spoke about how he first learned that he and Apatow had something in common — a love of old Steve Martin comedy routines — that led him to reach out. The email correspondence lasted "for about a year,' Rudd said, until the two did meet face-to-face — when the actor went in to audition for a role in Apatow's 2004 film, Anchorman. In a recent interview with PEOPLE ahead of his new Nintendo Switch commercial, Rudd spoke about another nostalgic film that played a pivotal role in his career: 1995's Clueless.

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