“Badass”: Paul Rudd’s bizarre first encounter with Neil Diamond
Alongside Keanu Reeves, Paul Rudd firmly cemented his status as one of the most widely liked actors in the industry a long time ago. While a major part of his on-screen persona, especially for younger generations of audiences, revolves around his portrayal of Ant-Man in the Marvel movies, Rudd has built a body of work that goes far beyond his most popular work.
In addition to his solid performances in iconic comedies like Clueless and Anchorman, Rudd has also taken on other fascinating projects over the years that have provided an interesting diversity to his oeuvre. One such example is the strange sci-fi series Living with Yourself, where the American actor delivered a complex interpretation of someone who discovers that he has been cloned and deals with the terrifying idea of being replaced from his own life, along the lines of Charlie Kaufman’s existential investigations in Synecdoche, New York.
Before he got his big acting break, however, Rudd had to work a number of jobs, which helped him garner interesting experiences that he would later incorporate into his characters, according to the kind of story he signed onto. Among them, the gig that often gets brought up in interviews is his time as a DJ who ran a Bar Mitzvah service.
He used a significant portion of that period as a source of inspiration for the sitcom Party Down, which dealt with similar themes. However, the strangest part of his stint as a DJ only came out in a conversation with Rolling Stone, where he revealed that he once ran into Neil Diamond during one of his gigs, leading to a surreal conversation with the famous musician.
When asked to recall details about the incident, Rudd said: “It was a woman’s 40th birthday, and Neil Diamond was a friend of the woman. He was a guest, and she had requested [that I play] ‘September Morn’, and I was watching her dance with Neil Diamond to ‘September Morn’. Then, I went around to each table with my microphone to see how everyone was doing.”
The actor added: “Neil Diamond was sitting by himself at this table, and I said, ‘Hello, Mr. Diamond, are you having fun tonight?’ And he said, ‘I am.’ I asked him very seriously, ‘That’s good. But more importantly, are you Wanging Chung tonight?’ And he looked at me, and he was even more serious, and he said, ‘Well, I try and Wang Chung every night.’ And I gave him a knowing nod and walked away. There was an understanding, certainly on my part, of how badass Neil Diamond is.”
It almost seems like a scene straight out of the kind of comedy that Rudd usually stars in, except reality is often stranger than fiction just because it is real. Rudd’s DJ days might have been numbered, but its influence on Party Down is still noteworthy. It’s a show that will resonate with anyone who has found themselves in a similar position, harbouring grand dreams of artistic success while being forced to confront a different socioeconomic reality.
