EXCLUSIVE: Paul Rudd on playing Ant-Man, a 'regular guy' who just happens to be a superhero

Rudd says that the size-changing scenes are tricky to do because it’s not like you can ‘act big’ or ‘act small’. — Photos: Handout

How did Marvel’s smallest superhero become arguably its most influential one?

In the seven years since Paul Rudd made his debut as Scott Lang a.k.a Ant-Man, the hero has gone from fighting similar mini-sized villains on Thomas The Tank Engine toy sets to helping the Avengers go back in time to undo the seismic damage caused by Thanos’ snap.

That upward trajectory looks set to continue with Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, which kicks off the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase Five.

In it, Scott and his partner Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) venture into the Quantum Realm alongside Hope’s parents Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Scott’s daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton).

There, they face off against the character who has been set up as the MCU’s next Thanos-level “Big Bad” – Kang The Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), and Scott will have to do whatever it takes to make sure his family gets out of the Quantum Realm safely.

Ant-Man will be the first hero to face off against MCU’s new ‘Big Bad’, Kang The Conqueror.

That family aspect is one thing that sets Scott apart from the likes of Thor, Captain American and Iron Man – despite being a superhero, he really is just a regular family guy.

It is also something that Rudd himself can relate to.

During an exclusive one-to-one virtual interview, the 53-year-old actor told StarLifestyle that the biggest change in both his and Scott’s lives since the first Ant-Man movie came out is their children.

“When I first started playing Ant-Man, my kids were little kids, and now they are teenagers! I have one son who is now a young adult and my baby daughter is now 13,” he mused.

“Everything is different when you are watching your kids grow up.

“And that’s kind of what is happening to Scott Lang too – he lost so many years with his daughter, and now he just wants to be a good dad and spend time with her.

“Looking at what has happened in my own life, I certainly bring that into the character and relate to him in those ways.”

Rudd says that Lang has lost too many years with his daughter Cassie, and now he just wants to be a good dad and spend time with her.

Of course, not all regular family guys have an amazing suit that allows them to change their size, from shrinking down to the size of ants, to growing to be as big as a building.

During our interview, Rudd explained how he approaches those fantastical size-changing scenes.

“It’s not like you can ‘act’ like you’re big or act like you’re small!

“The thing I do is really more the gesture of when you’re getting ready to do it,” he explained.

“To shrink down, I sort of have to do this (makes gesture) and move my head so the helmet snaps down.

“If I’m giant-sized, I can maybe act like I’m getting a little bit heavy and dizzy because I can’t stay giant for so long!”

Jonathan Majors as Kang The Conqueror.

All about family

According to director Peyton Reed, who directed all three Ant-Man movies so far, this particular MCU franchise has always been about family.

Paul Rudd at the World Premiere of 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' in Los Angeles. – Photo: AFP

“It is a generational story about a family of heroes – Scott Lang, who is not a billionaire or super scientist or anything, gets sucked into this world; Hope Van Dyne is the legacy daughter of two superheroes, Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer,” he said during a virtual global press conference.

“So it’s this generational thing, and now young Cassie Lang, who is probably Scott’s biggest motivating factor now.”

Rudd concurred, saying that Scott’s main focus right now is to be a dad to Cassie, not being an Avenger.

“He always had kind of a love-hate relationship with it (being a superhero), but now I feel as if he’s accepted it,” he said.

“This is a guy who started off with a regular job. He was brought into this group (of Avengers), he has no innate super abilities, but then he went up and fought Thanos.

“He is happy that all of that now seems to be in the rear view mirror, and now he gets to have kind of a normal life.

“It doesn’t last as long as maybe he thought it would, but I think that he’s kind of grown a lot over the course of nine years or so that we’ve been doing these movies. I mean, he’s experienced a thing or two, and he’s accepted who he is,” Rudd added.

(From left) Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet Van Dyne, and Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne/Wasp.

The fact that Scott is a “real person” is also the most appealing part of the character for Rudd.

“As an actor, you want to play somebody who is relatable and hopefully a sympathetic person, and somebody whom you maybe understand what they’re going through,” he said, adding that what he likes most about Scott is that he is a regular guy who still has reservations about all the superhero stuff.

“I like the fact that although he is part of this group with some pretty impressive people and superheroes, he would be the first guy to say, ‘What the hell am I doing here?’ or ‘This makes no sense at all!’” Rudd ended with a laugh.

Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania opens at cinemas nationwide today.