Long before Paul Rudd became a Marvel star and appeared onscreen as Ant-Man, plenty of fans knew him as Josh from “Clueless.” While it’s hard to imagine the 1995 film without Rudd, it turns out that he almost didn’t get the role for a rather silly reason.
During an interview on “TODAY with Jenna and Sheinelle,” Rudd explained that when he first auditioned for his “Clueless” role, he had longer hair that was on the “grunge-y” side. However, afterward, he decided to get a haircut, and things became a little more complicated than he expected.
“I didn’t think about it after I auditioned for it. I was down the street and I walked past a barbershop and said, ‘Just buzz it.’ And they went and cut off all my hair,” Rudd recalled.
“Then about a week after that, I went to a restaurant and saw Amy Heckerling, the director,” he continued. “She said, ‘What did you do to your hair? You were in the running for this part.'”
Rudd revealed that he then wore wigs during his screentest in an attempt to land the job still, but they “didn’t look right.”
Fortunately for Rudd, that didn’t stop him from ultimately getting the gig.
Paul Didn’t Feel Famous After ‘Clueless’
While a fair share of fans first discovered Rudd thanks to “Clueless,” he’s admitted that the role didn’t bring him noticeable fame.
“I didn’t really feel so famous,” Rudd told People in April 2025 while talking about his life after the film. “I was a working actor and I still had a regular job when I was doing this [Nintendo] commercial the first time.”
“And then as it slowly started to, as I started getting more work, occasionally someone would say, ‘Hey, Clueless!’ or whatever,” he added. “But it wasn’t — nothing felt so different really.”
“And, you know, I think just the very nature of the time when there was no social media, there was no internet — everything just went by just a little bit slower,” Rudd explained.
Paul Had a Reunion with ‘Clueless’ Co-Star Alicia Silverstone
Back in March 2019, Rudd’s “Clueless” love interest, Alicia Silverstone — who played Cher Horowitz in the film — took to Instagram to share a photo of herself with her former co-star.
In the caption, she wrote, “Such a sweet reunion last night at dinner with my pal #PaulRudd. I love this guy! I mean he ordered vegan for both of us….. Swoon 🤗”
Fans loved what they were seeing, with one person leaving a comment, saying, “Omg 😍😍😍😍😍 this makes my childhood heart so happy!”
“I’m totally buggin’,” another person added.
A third fan wrote, “Cher and Josh forever ❤️❤️”
