Paul Rudd Shares Wife Julie's Sweet Reaction After Snagging People's Sexiest Man Alive Title

Paul Rudd shared how his wife, Julie Yaeger, reacted after he told her his newest title.

Rudd, 52, is People's Sexiest Man Alive for 2021. According to the "Ant-Man" actor, he only told one person ahead of time about his newest recognition — his wife — and she had the sweetest response.

"She was stupefied," Rudd told People. "But you know she was very sweet about it. After some giggling and shock, she said, 'Oh, they got it right.' And that was very sweet. She was probably not telling the truth, but what's she going to say?"

Despite being one of the most popular actors of his generation, the "Avengers: Endgame" star said that he is the happiest when he is at home with his wife and their two children Jack, 17, and Darby, 12.

"When I think about myself, I think of myself as a husband and a father, like I'm that," Rudd said while describing himself. "I just hang out with my family when I'm not working. That's what I kind of like the most."

Rudd and Yaeger have been married for almost two decades already. They tied the knot on Feb. 23, 2003. In an interview with Marie Clare in 2018, Rudd shared that his wife was the first person he met in New York. He moved to the Big Apple after his breakout role in "Clueless." Recounting their first encounter, Rudd admitted that she caught his attention with her maturity.

"We started talking and there was a maturity with her – she had experienced some tragedy in her life, I had too, and the impression I got was, wow, this is a woman. This isn’t a girl," Rudd said of his wife.

He was impressed by how Yaeger managed to overcome and was in the process of overcoming the adversities in her life at the time. Rudd also loved her perspective, which doesn't easily come up at a young age but is earned through experience.

As for Rudd's Sexiest Man Alive title, the "This Is 40" star had a hard time accepting it. "This is not false humility. There are so many people that should get this before me," he said. But many were very happy for him because they knew he deserved it.

Initially, there were rumors that Chris Evans would grace People's Sexiest Man Alive issue this year. While some of the "Captain America" star's fans were sad about the result, many of them also approved of Rudd for the title.

"People were saying that Chris Evans was named People's Sexiest Man Alive and I was like, 'Yes!' But they were wrong and Paul Rudd is… [To be honest], I’m not mad at it," one wrote on Twitter.