Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor and screenwriter.

Rudd was born in Passaic, New Jersey, the son of Jewish immigrants from England; his family's original surname was "Rudnitzky". His father Michael was a historical tour guide who was formerly the vice president of World Airways, while Rudd's mother, Gloria, was a sales manager at television station KSMO-TV. He was raised in Overland Park, Kansas. He attended high school at Shawnee Mission West, and college at the University of Kansas, where he was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity.

Rudd made his breakout performance in the 1995 film Clueless. Additional credits include Wet Hot American Summer, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, The Cider House Rules, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, Friends (in the recurring role of Mike Hannigan, who married Phoebe Buffay in 2004), The Object of My Affection, and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. While he played the original Josh in Clueless, he returned to play the character of Sonny when the movie was adapted into a television show in 1996. Rudd's Broadway credits include The Last Night of Ballyhoo (1997), Twelfth Night (1998), and Three Days of Rain (2006). He recently guest-starred as a has-been 1990s rock star, Desmond Fellows, on the television series, Veronica Mars, in an episode titled "Debasement Tapes". He has also appeared in the audiobook recording of John Hodgman's book The Areas of My Expertise.