Paul Rudd Details His ‘Very Restrictive’ Ant-Man Diet: ‘My Reward Was Sparkling Water’

Paul Rudd reflects on the extreme diet and exercise regime he had to follow to get in shape to fight for Ant man movies.

During an appearance on Tuesday’s episode Menu off podcast, the actor, 54, admitted his diet plan was so “restrictive” that “my reward was soda.”

“That diet was so terrible,” he recalled. “It was like, ‘Oh, okay, now I’m going to drink some soda. I’ve earned it. Train, work out … so I drank a lot of soda.’

Rudd went on to joke that he even gravitated towards Pellegrino because the Italian mineral water has a “softer carbonation” than other sparkling water brands.

“Too much carbonation, I’d explode at that size. One bubble would take me out,” he said with a laugh.

When presenters Ed Gamble and James Acaster asked if water really felt like a treat, Rudd insisted it did. “Yeah, it was great,” he said, before quickly remarking, “It wasn’t flavorsome – I didn’t want to go crazy. But it was a treat.”

Paul Rudd and Jonathan Majors star in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’.

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Every sexiest man in the world has a big opportunity

Rudd then explained that he adapted surprisingly well to his low-calorie diet. “Once you get into it, it’s really not too hard. And I think you can guess that I’m fine with really boring food over and over again. You enjoy it,” he explained.

The actor also said he was surprised to find that the lighter food gave him energy. “You feel good – waking up with tons of energy is the weirdest feeling. That was new to me,” he recalled.

When the hosts asked him if he was “comparing notes” with his co-stars, who were also on special diets to get in shape for the movies, Rudd poked fun at himself with his trademark self-deprecating humor.

“I think I exercised more than anyone, I would eat better than anyone, and I would look worse than anyone,” he lamented. “I had to work out all the time, eat perfectly, just to look bad.”

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Rudd followed a similarly rigorous training program for his 2019 Marvel film Avengers: Endgameand he jokingly recalled how his costar Chris Hemsworth appeared on the set.

“I remember Game over, Chris Hemsworth would have these Tupperware containers and eat this porridge from just one porridge. And exercise. When you stand next to a guy like that, I thought, ‘What’s the point of all this?’ Why am I killing myself when it can exist? I can never achieve that,’ he said.

“Ant-Man is not Thor. But I tried to practice as Thor and it didn’t work,” added Rudd.

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Chris Hemsworth and Paul Rudd. Dave Bennett/WireImage

While Rudd may feel like he’s no match for the Australian action star, he did take home the title of PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2021. After being succeeded by Chris Evans in 2022, Just the murders in the building the star even offered to help prepare him to wear the crown.

“I said, ‘Look, here’s the deal, Chris. This comes with a lot of responsibility,'” he told PEOPLE. “‘If you want to sit down and maybe something like that, we’ll probably have to spend a day, it’s going to be hours, because there’s a lot that you have to fulfill and a lot is expected of you. And if you want to have a real strategy session or what it was and what needed, I’m available.’ And I gave him a number of days.”

However, Evans didn’t seem interested in Rudd’s little “strategy session”.

“Yeah, he never returned any messages,” Rudd said. “[But he’s] absolutely busy. He is the sexiest man alive. There are no days off for that.”

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