Paul Rudd is opening up about his struggles to get back into superhero shape for Marvel’s latest Ant-Man film.
Ahead of the Feb. 17 release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Rudd told Men’s Health in a recent cover story that the workout regimen for his role as Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man, was more exhausting than he remembered the process being for his 2018 sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp. Prior to shooting the newest movie, Rudd starred opposite Will Ferrell in Apple TV+’s 2021 series The Shrink Next Door in a part that saw him age into his 70s and develop a softer physique than Marvel Cinematic Universe fans might be used to seeing.
“I worked really hard to get back into shape for Quantumania, and I realized, ‘Oh, my God, this is so much harder than it was [for Ant-Man and the Wasp],’” Rudd said. “I had fallen off more than I had in the past. All of a sudden, my clothes fit tight. And I thought, ‘God, this sucks. I can’t even wear these pants.’”
He continued, “So I’d say to myself, ‘Well, I might as well just eat some of these cookies.’ I was irritable and self-conscious. I just wasn’t in a good mood. I really beat myself up.”
The 53-year-old Ghostbusters: Afterlife star explained that he typically is able to self-motivate while preparing to film an action-centric role. “I can be a hyper-focused person if I have a goal,” Rudd said. “If I’m doing one of these movies, and I know that in four months, I have to do a shirtless scene, I’m pretty dialed in. I also try and find the happy medium. I could work out hard and eat perfectly, and I’ll still look worse than most of the other Avengers.”
Director Peyton Reed’s follow-up to the original 2015 Ant-Man also stars Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors, Michelle Pfeiffer, Michael Douglas and Kathryn Newton. Disney releases the film in theaters Feb. 17.
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