{"id":2070651,"date":"2025-10-05T17:35:05","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T17:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2070651"},"modified":"2025-10-05T17:35:05","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T17:35:05","slug":"the-subject-of-a-long-running-paul-rudd-joke-features-a-young-jennifer-aniston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/the-subject-of-a-long-running-paul-rudd-joke-features-a-young-jennifer-aniston\/","title":{"rendered":"The Subject Of A Long-Running Paul Rudd Joke Features A Young Jennifer Aniston"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Paul Rudd had a very peculiar, and stringently consistent joke that he loved to play on talk show host Conan O&#8217;Brien. Rudd has often appeared on O&#8217;Brien&#8217;s many shows \u2014 from &#8220;Late Night with Conan O&#8217;Brien,&#8221; and &#8220;Conan,&#8221; to &#8220;Conan O&#8217;Brien Needs a Friend&#8221; \u2014 usually to promote and upcoming TV show or movie that he was involved with. As the talk show format dictates, visiting guest stars would introduce and present a clip of the films they were promoting, usually only about 15 to 30 seconds long. <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/1014528\/the-15-best-paul-rudd-movies-ranked\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Rudd, imp that he is;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Rudd, imp that he is<\/a>, would earnestly introduce his clip to O&#8217;Brien, but then show a 28-second portion of Stewart Raffill&#8217;s 1988 film &#8220;Mac and Me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The clip depicted the film&#8217;s wheelchair-using protagonist Eric (Jade Calegory) uncontrollably rolling down a wooded hill. His friend (Lauren Stanley) yells after him, but Eric&#8217;s descent cannot be controlled. At the bottom of the hill, Eric plummets off the edge of a cliff, and falls 30 feet into a body of water. Right when he splashes down, the film&#8217;s titular alien, Mac, pops up in the middle of the frame. Mac is played by a very odd-looking puppet, resembling a hairless, elderly mogwai. The clip is violent, weird, and hilarious. Rudd has shown it to Conan dozens of times in the last few decades. They would always get a good laugh out of it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Mac and Me,&#8221; for those unfamiliar, was a brazen knockoff of Steven Spielberg&#8217;s &#8220;E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.&#8221; It was about a young boy with a single mom who befriends a weird-looking space visitor, just like &#8220;E.T.,&#8221; and featured a lot of parallel scenes. In &#8220;E.T.,&#8221; the young Elliott coaxes the space creature out of hiding with Reese&#8217;s Pieces. In &#8220;Mac and Me,&#8221; it&#8217;s a Coca-Cola. Both creatures also went by abbreviated names. E.T. was short for extra-terrestrial, of course, while Mac was an abbreviation of Mysterious Alien Creature.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Fun trivia: Jennifer Aniston was in &#8220;Mac and Me.&#8221; She was only a featured extra in a later scene, but one can clearly see her in the background, watching some break-dancers in a McDonald&#8217;s<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read more: <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/1729598\/completed-movies-never-released\/?zsource=yahoo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:10 Completed Movies That Were Never Released;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">10 Completed Movies That Were Never Released<\/a><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">Jennifer Aniston started her career as a background extra in Mac and Me<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Ronald McDoland and Eric wheeling up to a table in Mac and Me &#8211; Orion Pictures<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">To be clear, Aniston is not in the cliff scene that Paul Rudd inflicted on Conan O&#8217;Brien. She was in <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rVkA6vESypE\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:a dance scene partway through the film;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">a dance scene partway through the film<\/a>, wherein young breakdancers were putting on a show at a McDonald&#8217;s. One needs to have quick eyes to see her, but she is recognizable. She&#8217;s the tall one in the white shoes. She was not one of the dancers. It was the actress&#8217; first role, and she wasn&#8217;t credited. Look closely at the crowd scenes, and one might also make out Nikki Cox, the future star of &#8220;Unhappily Ever After.&#8221; In a weird coincidence, Aniston and Rudd would work together eventually, playing the co-leads in Nicholas Hytner&#8217;s 1998 queer romance &#8220;The Object of My Affection.&#8221; They also reunited for the 2012 comedy &#8220;Wanderlust.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Aniston, like so many performers before her, spent many years snatching small acting gigs and paying her dues. After her day job on &#8220;Mac and Me,&#8221; she would land a recurring role in the obscure 1990 sitcom &#8220;Molloy&#8221; starring Mayim Bialik. The same year, she was one of the series regulars on the equally obscure &#8220;Ferris Bueller&#8221; sitcom spin-off. Some would consider her leading role in the 1993 horror film &#8220;Leprechaun&#8221; to be her big break, as it was a modest hit, even if it was critically derided. That same year, Aniston plied her comedy chops to an extreme degree in <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/935791\/tv-interrupted-the-edge-was-the-most-violent-sketch-comedy-show-ever-made\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:the great and ultra-violent sketch comedy series &quot;The Edge,&quot;;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">the great and ultra-violent sketch comedy series &#8220;The Edge,&#8221;<\/a> co-created by Julie Brown. In 1994, however, she was cast as Rachel in the hit sitcom &#8220;Friends,&#8221; and became a world-recognized star \u2014 not to mention a multimillionaire \u2014 over the course of that show&#8217;s 10 seasons. She dated Brad Pitt, got sponsorships, and graced magazine covers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">So remember, kids, being an extra in that stupid-ass alien movie isn&#8217;t a waste of time. Many great actors and movie stars got their start in a similar way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">All that said, I should pause to further explain &#8220;Mac and Me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">What the heck is Mac and Me?<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Mac in Mac and Me\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/0a1TJkZFFHT_Buq9H762sg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTUzOTtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/slashfilm_articles_873\/acac3d4e0f3583ef50fb58ab5ef76759\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Mac in Mac and Me &#8211; Orion Pictures<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">It should be noted that &#8220;Mac&#8221; wasn&#8217;t just an acronym for Mysterious Alien Creature, but a very deliberate tie-in to McDonald&#8217;s. Product placement is not just prevalent in &#8220;Mac and Me,&#8221; but its raison d&#8217;\u00eatre. The film was conceived by an advertising executive named R.J. Louis who worked on campaigns for McDonald&#8217;s, and who figured that McDonald&#8217;s mascot, Ronald McDonald, was better known than even Mickey Mouse. Simultaneously, Louis figured that &#8220;E.T.&#8221; was getting long in the tooth, and that kids of the late 1980s would want their own version of the character. He combined both of these ideas in &#8220;Mac and Me,&#8221; a prolonged commercial for McDonald&#8217;s wearing the skin of an E.T. knockoff. Ronald McDonald not only appears in the movie, but <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=K_N7zvGnvX8\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:the mascot also narrated the film's teasers;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">the mascot also narrated the film&#8217;s teasers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Rumors circulated for years that McDonald&#8217;s partially funded the film, but that&#8217;s not quite true. One of the main investors was Golden State Foods, one of McDonald&#8217;s food distributors, but the McDonald&#8217;s company itself didn&#8217;t invest in &#8220;Mac and Me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Stewart Raffill, the director, had previously made stylish and exciting comedies, action pictures, and sci-fi films. He made &#8220;High Risk,&#8221; &#8220;The Philadelphia Experiment,&#8221; and &#8220;The Ice Pirates.&#8221; <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/545375\/stewart-raffill-mannequin-2-interview\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:\/Film once interviewed Raffill;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">\/Film once interviewed Raffill<\/a>, and it turns out that R.J. Louis hired him before there was a script. In Raffill&#8217;s words:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"mb-4 border-l-2 pl-5 italic text-tertiary\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I was hired out of the blue. And the producer asked me to come down to the office. So I did and he had a whole crew there, a whole crew on the payroll. It was amazing. [&#8230;] He had everybody already hired and I said, &#8216;Well, what&#8217;s the script?&#8217; And he said, &#8216;We don&#8217;t have a script. I don&#8217;t like the script. You have to write the script. You&#8217;re gonna have to write it quickly so prep the movie and write the script on the weekends.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">That explains a lot. &#8220;Mac and Me&#8221; is a cult sensation, partially because of Rudd, but also because of its weirdness. It&#8217;s something to behold.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">If you&#8217;re looking for the easiest way to keep up with all the major movie and TV news, why not <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/subscribe.slashfilm.com\/newsletter-syndicated\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:sign up to our free newsletter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">sign up to our free newsletter<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/1981060\/paul-rudd-mac-and-me-joke-first-role-jennifer-aniston-conan-obrien\/?zsource=yahoo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:original article on SlashFilm;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">original article on SlashFilm<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paul Rudd had a very peculiar, and stringently consistent joke that he loved to play on talk show host Conan O&#8217;Brien. Rudd has often appeared on O&#8217;Brien&#8217;s many shows \u2014 from &#8220;Late Night with Conan O&#8217;Brien,&#8221; and &#8220;Conan,&#8221; to &#8220;Conan O&#8217;Brien Needs a Friend&#8221; \u2014 usually to promote and upcoming TV show or movie that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2070652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[37056,26741,234402,309082,387938],"class_list":["post-2070651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-conan-obrien","tag-jennifer-aniston","tag-orion-pictures","tag-paul-rudd","tag-stewart-raffill"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/The-Subject-Of-A-Long-Running-Paul-Rudd-Joke-Features-A.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2070651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2070651"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2070651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2070653,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2070651\/revisions\/2070653"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2070652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2070651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2070651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2070651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}