It takes a lot of work to hold the title of Sexiest Man Alive for a whole year – just ask Paul Rudd. The 53-year-old star of Ant–Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, who received the title in 2021, was delighted to hand it off to his 41-year-old Avengers co-star Chris Evans last November.
Additionally, Rudd, who will be on the cover of PEOPLE’s issue due out on February 15, says, “You know, I have a fantasy football thread and Chris is one of the teams. So there was some back and forth. There might even be a couple of Sexy Men in that football squad. Just over the text chain, [there was] a congratulations and passing of the torch.”
Rudd also felt responsible to impart some of his hard-earned wisdom to Evans to best prepare him for the coming year.
“Oh, yeah. I absolutely said, ‘Look, here’s the deal, Chris. This comes with a lot of responsibility,'” comments the actor. “‘If you want to sit down and maybe have like, we’ll probably need to spend the day, it’s going to take hours, because there’s a lot you have to live up to and there’s a lot expected of you. And if you want to have like a real strategy session or what it’s been like and what’s required, I’m available.’ And I gave him a series of days.”
Then, Rudd grins and says, “Yeah, he’s never returned one text. [But he’s] absolutely busy. He’s the Sexiest Man Alive. There are no days off for that.”
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According to Paul Rudd, who is the March 2023 cover star for Men’s Health, getting in shape for Ant–Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was “so much harder.”
“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 the last Ant-Man project],'” he remarked. “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.”
Moreover, Rudd attributed reaching his ideal body shape to his tenacity and work ethic.
“I can be a hyper-focused person if I have a goal. 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,” he stated. “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.”
Lastly, the movie Ant–Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will be released on February 17.