We noticed Paul Rudd’s impressive beard-growing skills before Our Idiot Brother even premiered at Sundance (and then again at the festival). So when we saw him at a screening of the movie hosted by the Cinema Society earlier this week, we felt compelled to double-check: You kept a real beard throughout the whole movie, right? “The beard was real,” he assured us. “But I did have a wig for most of the shots, because my hair wasn’t that long. I grew it, but I felt like I wanted to it to be that long.” The look helped him get into character as Ned, an aimless dude who does dumb (but good-natured) things like sell pot to a uniformed cop. “Every once in a while you can put on a costume and get a real vibe of who a character is. There’s something about short-shorts and Crocs and a tank top and a big beard and hair — I felt like, Oh, I so know who this person is.” That’s right: He figured it out. For more Idiot thoughts, click through our slideshow.
