Paul Rudd has held the title of Sexiest Man Alive for three years, but he doesn’t feel he deserves it. The Ant-Man actor spoke to PEOPLE at his 11th annual All-Star Bowling Benefit for the Stuttering Association for the Young (SAY) about his title and what tips he’d like to give his fellow contenders.
“Well, I think I’m the wrong guy to ask for that kind of advice!” he said. “But I can’t wait to see who it is,” he added, laughing. When Rudd was crowned Sexiest Man Alive in 2021, he spoke to the outlet about why he felt awkward about accepting the title. According to him, he wasn’t being humble but was aware that people might not agree with the choice.
“[I] have enough awareness to know that when people hear that I’d be picked for this, they would say, ‘What?’ This is not false humility. There are so many people who should get this before me,” he told the outlet. However, he is looking forward to seeing which handsome hunk will take the title next. “I am very excited to stand on the sidelines and just bask in their sexiness,” he said.
After his 2021 win, Chris Evans took the baton the following year, while Patrick Dempsey is the most recent recipient of the title. “I’m glad it’s happening at this point in my life,” the 58-year-old actor told the outlet last year after his win. “It’s nice to have the recognition, and certainly my ego gets a little bump, but it gives me the platform to use it for something positive,” he added.
By “positive,” Dempsey was referring to the Dempsey Center, an organization he founded in honor of his late mom to raise awareness around cancer and support patients and their loved ones.
As for Rudd, he has been an advocate for children with a stutter and has been involved with SAY since 2006, after portraying a character with a stutter in Broadway’s Three Days of Rain that same year. “I didn’t really know much about [stuttering], and I wanted to do a decent job, so I thought I should talk to somebody who stutters,” he told the outlet.
After some research, he discovered Taro Alexander, the founder of the SAY Foundation. Upon invitation, Rudd went and met the kids and was “blown away” by their courage and spirit, deciding to stay involved with the foundation.
