"I always thought I'd be a really good gay guy," Paul Rudd told EW in 2009. "I love American Idol. I watch Antiques Roadshow like crazy. Guys like Oscar Wilde, Stephen Fry, Elton John — they're all very bright, with a razor-sharp wit. David Sedaris — who's funnier than David Sedaris? I love gay guys... I feel pretty gay. I'm certainly not the most macho guy in the room."
Before you see him and Tina Fey in the new rom-com Admission, check out more of Rudd's queer highlights.
BEING AFFECTIONATE
How could you not fall in love with Rudd as George, a gay first grade teacher, in the 1998 rom-com The Object of My Affection? Forget Jennifer Aniston — it was thrilling to watch Rudd get cozy with the handsome Amo Gulinello.
BEING BALLSY
Don't you remember Rudd opposite Jimmy Fallon in the holiday male stripper movie Jingle Balls? OK, it’s just a fake poster for a silly bit on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. But if this film did exist, it would certainly be Rudd's gayest moment by a landslide.
KNOWING HOW YOU'RE GAY
Rudd launched a meme when he and Seth Rogen played a friendly, slightly homophobic game of "You Know How I Know You're Gay?" in Judd Apatow's 2005 comedy 40-Year-Old Virgin. He told The Advocate that the scene was totally improvised: "[It] wasn’t even in the script."
BASHING EXPECTATION
Rudd starred in the 1999 Off-Broadway premiere of Neil LaBute’s Bash: The Latter-Day Plays as a Mormon who recounts his horrific murder of a gay man in a public restroom. He later told The Advocate that he suspected his character might be closeted.
LOVING YOU, MAN
In his quest to find more guy friends, Rudd got a surprise kiss from Thomas Lennon after a misconstrued platonic man-date in the 2009 comedy I Love You, Man. The MTV Movie Award-nominated tongue slip was even featured in the trailer.
BEFRIENDING DOROTHY
Rudd played Cher’s stepbrother in Clueless, but DVD extras reveal that he was considered for Christian, the "friend of Dorothy." "That was actually the one role that I asked if I could really audition for," he told The Advocate. “That was my favorite part in the movie, because I thought it was so cool that there was this really cool character who was completely into all the Rat Pack–type stuff and is gay, but it wasn’t really a big thing. At that point that was something you didn’t really see."
CRUSHING HARD
Rudd revealed his surprising man-crush to The Advocate in 2007: "I have so many! Like Zach Galifianakis. In fact, my wife always says that I have the biggest crush on him. He’s a comic who usually has this big beard, but he’s so freakin’ funny... I like depth. Anyone can just jump in the sack with Colin Farrell, but you spend your life with Zach Galifianakis."
GIVING BI A TRY
Clueless and eager to please, Rudd's pothead hippie slacker character in 2011’s Our Idiot Brother accidentally wound up in a threesome with a woman and a man. Unfortunately, he shut it down quickly after rounding first base.
BEING KATE WINSLET
When Rudd hosted what many have called the gayest episode of SNL ever, he posed nude, Titanic-style, for a very flirty Andy Samberg in a digital short called "Everyone's a Critic."
KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY
"The Saturday Night Live that I hosted was such a gay-heavy show," Rudd told EW after his 2008 gig. "But it didn't even cross my mind until after. The family that kept kissing each other — I didn't even think of that as being gay." Rudd later frenched Bill Hader in a 2010 "Kissing Family" sketch and mouth-raped Jason Segal in a 2011 "Kissing Family" sketch.
DONNING GAY APPAREL
Rudd did leggy holiday drag for the "bumper photos" when hosting SNL in 2010. He's serving festive cocktail waitress realness, but he still made our list of the “Sexiest and Strangest Celebrity Santas.”
BEING TOM FORD
Spoofing a classic 2006 Vanity Fair cover, Rudd handsomely channeled gay fashion mogul Tom Ford and nuzzled Seth Rogen in a 2009 VF photo shot by Annie Leibovitz.
GOING SOLO
Is there anything gayer a grown man kissing himself in the mirror? Well, yes — but it's still weirdly hot. Rudd did the self-smooch for a 2009 EW feature.
ASSUMING THE POSITION
What's the quickest way for a straight guy to get attention on the gay blogs? Drop your pants and throw your legs in the air for an anal self-exam like Rudd did in last year's Apatow comedy This Is 40.
Gay.net, March 2013.