Paul Rudd Plays Aging Musician in June 5 Release of Power Ballad
Updated
Updated · Hollywood Reporter · Jun 3
Paul Rudd Plays Aging Musician in June 5 Release of Power Ballad
3 articles · Updated · Hollywood Reporter · Jun 3
Summary
June 5 marks the release of Power Ballad, with Paul Rudd starring opposite Nick Jonas as a wedding-band singer confronting the rock-star life he never had.
John Carney said Rudd’s involvement unlocked financing, drew other actors and helped bring in the Irish Film Board, underscoring his pull even as Rudd resists movie-star status.
The role gives Rudd a rarer dramatic lane: Judd Apatow said the film taps frustration and pain beneath his comic persona, while Jonas praised Rudd’s own singing and guitar work.
At 57, Rudd framed the film as a departure from the clean-cut, everyman image that powered decades of comedies and Marvel films, saying he wants to be seen as a respected actor.
That tension mirrors the movie’s theme of roads not taken, as Rudd prepares another stage return and backs a smaller-scale film he says offers hope amid a fragmented theatrical market.