NEED TO KNOW
Paul Rudd stars as a supportive uncle in Rain Reign, having its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 6
The film reunites Rudd with Clueless costar Jeremy Sisto over 30 years after their iconic roles in the 1995 classic
Rudd worked with his wife Julie Rudd, who made her producing debut, marking their first professional collaboration
Paul Rudd is striking a more emotional chord in his new movie.
The Power Ballad actor, 57, is veering away from his comedy roots in the touching indie Rain Reign, which is having its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 6. The movie, adapted from the novel of the same name, follows a neurodivergent tween, Rose (played by newcomer Felice Kakaletris), who scrambles to find her beloved dog after he goes missing during a storm, with the aid of her loving uncle (Rudd).
“For me, it was the actual story, the entire script. I read it, and thought this should be in the world,” Rudd tells PEOPLE of what drew him to the project. “This is a character that I think will resonate with a lot of people. I think it’s a nice story. I think it’s inspirational. And I just thought it needed to be out there. And so to play a part in it was great.”
Rain Reign
Credit: Mike Sofokles
Rain Reign also stars Rudd’s Clueless costar (and real-life friend) Jeremy Sisto, over 30 years after the two starred together in the 1995 comedy classic. Though their characters don’t share scenes in the movie (Rudd stars as Cher’s ultimate love interest and step-brother, while Sisto plays her rich classmate), Rudd says he distinctly remembers meeting Sisto on that set — and the two have stayed friends since.
“To get to work with him was really great, and there was something very gratifying just about the history I suppose we shared,” the Ant-Man actor says. “We were both kind of starting off, and one thing you can’t manufacture is history with somebody. It really is something to treasure.”
He continues, “And I felt it with Jeremy that we’re doing these scenes and I’m thinking he remembers exactly what it was like to be at Paramount, working on Clueless in the same way I do. And there’s something really cool about that.”
Paul Rudd in Rain Reign
Credit: Mike Sofokles
Sisto, 51, echoed his sentiments, sharing that while he used to be more in awe of Rudd’s talent when they were younger, now he values his generosity as an actor even more.
“Paul was really the same guy that I met all those years ago, he just brings this grounded warmth to everything he does on set and on camera,” he says. “He’s just one of those actors who makes everybody better around him and he’s really generous.”
Now that the movie is premiering at Tribeca, Rudd says he’s most excited for its newcomer, Kakaletris, who was 13 at the time of the shoot, to experience her first film festival.
Rain Reign
Credit: Mike Sofokles
“I’m very excited for Felice because she’s so great in the movie, and I’m really excited that she’s going to get to see it in a film festival, the Tribeca Film Festival, see it with an audience, see herself in a movie up there doing such a great job,” he says. “And [director] Erika [Burke Rossa], it was her first film, that she’ll get to see her movie premiere there with the audiences. That’s really gratifying.”
In addition to having a first-time feature film director, Rain Reign was brought to the screen by another fresh face: Rudd’s wife Julie Rudd, in her first producing role on a movie. The project marked the first time she and Rudd worked together in a professional capacity.
Julie was involved in the movie before Rudd was, he says, and the transition into a working relationship for the pair was seamless.
“It was awesome working with her. One, she was really good at it,” Rudd says. “That’s not surprising. But it was really nice to go to set every day together.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Rain Reign makes its Tribeca Film Festival debut on June 6.
Read the original article on People
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.aol.com ’
