Having been one of the most recognisable stars in the industry for over 30 years, Julia Roberts knows what it takes to achieve longevity in a profession that’s more cutthroat than most.

Starring in a slew of critical and commercial hits that racked up billions of dollars in cumulative box office takings and plenty of awards season recognition certainly helped, with Roberts putting in the hard yards to cement her status at the top of the A-list, and it’s a position she hasn’t come down from despite significantly scaling back her workload in recent years.

It’s a career that’s yielded an Academy Award win for ‘Best Actress’ in Erin Brockovich, a trio of Golden Globe victories, and memorable roles in everything from Steel Magnolias and Pretty Woman to The Pelican Brief and My Best Friend’s Wedding via the Ocean’s trilogy and Notting Hill, but Roberts can still find herself surprised by a meteoric rise.

In fact, during an interview with Variety, she described Paul Rudd as “the most unexpected movie star”.

They’ve never shared the screen together, but they did perform as castmates in 2006’s Three Days of Rain on Broadway, giving her an insight into how the ageless actor made it all the way to the summit of Hollywood.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, she harked back to a pair of his biggest comedic breakthroughs.

“Paul is the master of subtle comedy, and Knocked Up personifies that,” she said. “The husband role is not the big, broad funny guy.

But Paul gives these little looks; there are these little inflections in his voice. He can shift his eyes so that it’s funny.”

She also commended his commitment to Anchorman, particularly the moustache.

“For his facial hair in Anchorman he probably walked around like that for months,” she continued.

“The people at the grocery store don’t know why he looks like that. They think he’s nuts. He’s not scared to do those things.”

 

Echoing the opinion that “comedy is hard work,” Roberts further praised Rudd for the way “he makes it look easy,” to the point she “always wants to be seated next to Paul” whenever they’re attending the same event.

That’s a ringing endorsement, and it can’t be argued that his star has been shining brighter than ever over the last decade.

For one thing, he was named as 2021’s Sexiest Man Alive by People, and he’s also a full-fledged superhero, having become entrenched in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Ant-Man.

He’s been acting since the mid-1990s and gained plenty of attention for his first-ever movie role as Josh in Clueless, but it’s his ability to not only maintain that success but increase it as the years wore on that left Roberts so impressed.