Paul Rudd Named People's Sexiest Man Alive For 2021

People magazine has crowned actor Paul Rudd as its Sexiest Man Alive for 2021.

What Happened: The announcement was made on Tuesday night’s broadcast of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” In the magazine edition scheduled to come out on Friday, the 52-year-old Rudd insisted there were “so many people that should get this before me” and joked that the honor will upgrade his life.

“I figure I’ll be on a lot more yachts,” Rudd quipped. “I’m excited to expand my yachting life. And I’ll probably try to get better at brooding in really soft light. I like to ponder. I think this is going to help me become more inward and mysterious. And I’m looking forward to that.”

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How It Happened: Rudd made his acting debut in 1992 on the television series “Sisters” and gained his first foothold of screen stardom in the 1995 comedy “Clueless” opposite Alicia Silverstone.

More recently, Rudd has been a fixture of the Walt Disney Co.’s DIS Marvel Cinematic Universe through his performances in “Ant-Man,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” “Captain America: Civil War” and “Avengers: Endgame.”

Perhaps not coincidentally, the People honor occurs in conjunction with two new projects starring Rudd: the series “The Shrink Next Door” that premieres Nov. 12 on Apple Inc.’s AAPL Apple TV+ streaming service and the Nov. 19 release of the Sony Pictures SONY “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.”

What Happened Before: People, which is published by Meredith Corporation MDP, launched its Sexiest Man Alive edition in 1985 with Mel Gibson on its cover. Since then, the magazine has mostly focused on calling attention to the charismatic charms of entertainers. The rare exceptions have been John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1988 and David Beckham in 2015.

Four men have received the Sexiest Man Alive honor twice: Richard Gere in 1993 and 1999, Brad Pitt in 1995 and 2000, George Clooney in 1997 and 2006, and Johnny Depp in 2003 and 2009. Gere’s 1993 cover was shared with Cindy Crawford, when the magazine did a one-time deviation from the format to hail the pair as the Sexiest Couple Alive.

Photo: Gage Skidmore / Flickr Creative Commons