Paul Rudd: Everybody's Buddy

Paul Rudd doesn't seem like a leading man until you remember that some men star in movies with other men. Bob Hope didn't beat up criminals or woo ladies, and likewise, Rudd, who at 5 ft. 10 somehow projects 5 ft. 6, has found the perfect expression of his charming, nonthreatening slyness in the buddy comedy. After playing a lot of leading men's friends ( The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up ) and nice guys embraced by leading women after they've come to their senses ( Friends, Clueless ), Rudd has graduated to playing the lead. He did it in last year's Role Models ...