Who Is Paul Rudd's Wife? All About Julie Yaeger

Paul Rudd is at the top of his game.

The actor became a fan favorite after his big break in the 1995 hit Clueless, and his career hasn't slowed since. In 2021 alone, Rudd was crowned PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive, earned a spot in SNL's coveted Five-Timers Club and joined yet another beloved franchise — he's already Ant-Man in the Marvel universe — when he starred in Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

When it comes to Rudd's biggest supporters, one name stands out: Julie Yaeger, his wife of 20 years. The couple wed in 2003 and share two children.

So, who is Paul Rudd's other half? From meeting in a publicist's office to becoming unlikely business partners, here's everything to know about Julie Yaeger and her relationship with Rudd.

She's a producer and screenwriter

After getting her career start as a publicist in the 1990s, Yaeger has since switched roles and become a producer and screenwriter. In 2017, Yaeger and Rudd collaborated on the film Fun Mom Dinner, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Yaeger wrote the screenplay, while her husband served as executive producer and made a cameo in the movie.

She met Rudd in his publicist's office

Talk about the perfect meet-cute. Shortly after the success of Clueless, Rudd set himself up in New York to get a publicist. When he walked into the office, he was introduced to Yaeger, who was working at the office at the time. He took her to lunch a few days later, and their romance blossomed.

"She was the first person I met in New York," he explained to Marie Claire UK in 2018. "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."

She and Rudd have been married for 20 years

The couple tied the knot in a private ceremony in 2003, and have since welcomed two children together. Their son Jack Sullivan was born in 2006, followed by their daughter Darby in 2010.

In 2015, the family posed for a sweet photo when Rudd was presented with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. However, as the actor told Marie Claire UK, his and Yaeger's children are anything but impressed by their dad's fame.

"Oh, I'm still the embarrassing dad," he said. "My daughter is eight and thinks I'm the bee's knees. My son is 13 and doesn't even want me going to his school. I make jokes to a series of eye rolls."

On Feb. 6, 2023, Rudd confirmed that his kids still aren't too impressed with his work.

"I think I'm dad more than I'm Ant-Man or in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). Yeah. They don't care, nor should they," he said during the Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania premiere in Los Angeles.

Later that month, Rudd spoke about Jack and Darby again when he revealed that the kids only recently realized that their dad is, in fact, an actor. "When my kids were very young — I'm not gonna sit my kids down when they're 3 and say, 'You know, I've got some DVDs to show you,' " he said in an interview with Willie Geist of Sunday TODAY. "I didn't really explain what I did."

He recalled when his son was "about 4 or 5 and went to a movie theater to see a movie with his friends."

"We were all going, and there was a movie poster that I was on that was in the lobby," the actor said. "So they all just thought that I worked at the movie theater, which I thought was very cute."

She and Rudd are business partners

Not only are Yaeger and Rudd partners in marriage and parenthood, but they also happen to be business partners, too. After Rudd kept finding himself walking into a store called Samuel's Sweet Shop in Rhinebeck, NY, he decided to purchase the store after the previous owner died.

However, he and Yaeger aren't the only celebrities involved — they co-own the shop with The Walking Dead star Jeffrey Dean Morgan and his wife (and One Tree Hill alum) Hilarie Burton.

Rudd says he's happiest at home with Yaeger and their children

Despite his high-profile career, Rudd told PEOPLE in 2021 that the couple's home life is pretty low-key.

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

Back in 2011, Rudd revealed to Elle that he doesn't think his personal life is "going to sell a lot of tabloids."

"My wife [Julie Yaeger, a former publicist] and I have been together for 16 years," he said. "My parents were married my whole life until my father passed away a few years ago."

Their marriage inspired parts of This Is 40 and Knocked Up

While Yaeger and Rudd might keep their private lives out of the tabloids, they're not against using their relationship to inform the actor's roles. In a 2012 interview with the Los Angeles Times, director Judd Apatow revealed that Yaeger and Judd's marriage — along with his own relationship with wife Leslie Mann — inspired some of the scenes in This Is 40 and Knocked Up.

Rudd and Apatow would sit with their wives during rehearsal and ask them to share their biggest pet peeves about their partners to inspire the scenes and dialogue in the movies.

"We'll have the 'What is annoying you about each other?' conversation, and a lot of that makes its way into the movie," he said.

In an interview with the Jewish Journal, Rudd shared a specific quote from Yaeger that made it into Knocked Up.

"When Judd was writing that movie, my wife once said, 'I'm so sick of looking at your back,' because I was just on the computer all day, checking my fantasy football scores."

She is Rudd's biggest supporter

When it comes to Rudd's career, Yaeger is nothing but supportive of her husband's achievements. But when the actor was named PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive in November 2021, Rudd said that his wife was momentarily "stupefied."

"But you know she was very sweet about it," he shared. "After some giggling and shock, she said 'Oh, they got it right.' "

Rudd also joked that if Yaeger had a choice, she would've put another actor on the cover instead.

"No, she would have voted for Keanu Reeves," he told Extra at the time, saying, "Come on, he's Keanu, I'd vote for him."

Rudd calls Yaeger his most attractive feature

When asked in a 2015 ELLE UK interview what his most attractive feature is, Rudd had just four words: "I'd say my wife."

She and Rudd attend several charity events each year

Rudd and Yaeger are passionate about supporting causes close to their hearts. In 2023 alone, they attended the Chefs for Kids' Cancer benefit, the Museum of Jewish Heritage's annual gala and a fundraiser for NEXT for AUTISM.