Julie Yaeger: Everything About Paul Rudd’s Wife
Julie Yaeger is the wife of Paul Rudd. The two have been married for 19 years, live in Rhinebeck, NY and have two children.
He is known as the PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2021. Not only that, he is one of Marvel’s smallest, but biggest stars as he is getting ready for this third Ant-Man film. Paul Rudd is known for his comedic roles, has a mass following, and as the sexiest man, would probably have no problem getting a date or two. But here’s the thing: Paul Rudd has been married since 2003 to Julie Yaeger, and the pair have one of the most solid and loving relationships going.
So, who is this lady who has not only captured Rudd’s heart but when asked what his most attractive feature was, Rudd’s simple answer was, “I’d say my wife.” Who is Julie Yaeger?
PAUL RUDD MET JULIE YAEGER AT AN AUDITION IN NEW YORK
Paul Rudd was just coming off his very first big hit with the 1995 hit Clueless. Julie Yaeger was working in Rudd’s publicists’ office and according to Rudd, Julie was “the first person I met in New York.”
It was a fortuitous meeting. When Rudd arrived, he was late for an audition, so he had to leave his luggage with a young lady in the publicist’s office. That young lady was Julie Yaeger.
“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,” Rudd explained to Marie Claire.
“This isn’t a girl. I was really taken with who she was and how she had overcome and was in the process of overcoming adversities in her life. There was a perspective that she had and still has on the world that you don’t come too easily—it’s earned and most people don’t have it at such a young age.”
Both Rudd and Julie Yaeger are pretty private about their personal life but did share some tidbits when they joined Jeffrey Dean Morgan and his wife, Hilarie Burton Morgan, on their Friday Night In podcast during the height of the COVID pandemic.
Along with Rudd and Yaeger, the Morgans welcomed married couple Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos. Both Paul and Julie share how they met. You can see it starting around the 6:40 mark.
Fun fact about Paul and Julie’s early relationship: it was used as inspiration for both Judd Apatow’s comedies, Knocked Up and This is 40. He explained to the Jewish Journal in a 2012 interview, “Actually, there were more specifics in Knocked Up, [than This is 40].” 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.”
Not only did Rudd share that fun moment that included Julie, but he also spoke about the riotous hemorrhoid scene. “Sometimes in a real marriage, it’s about asking your wife to look at this and what does that look like? While it’s not traditionally romantic, I would say it’s arguably romantic in its intimacy. The idea that a couple can do that for each other is very romantic. I also think that in a strange way, being able to fart in front of each other—that’s a very sweet gesture!”
JULIE YAEGER WAS A PUBLICIST AT A PUBLIC RELATIONS FIRM
Julie Yaeger worked in a PR firm when she first met her future husband. She was a publicist for three films, all in 1997. These were Men in Black, Niagara, Niagara, and Mr. Jealousy. From there, she changed hats and was a producer on the documentary The Suite with Dave Karger.
Finally, she even wore a screenwriter’s hat in the film Fun Mom Dinner. What is significant about this project is that Rudd appeared in a cameo role and was an executive producer on the film. It was, so far, the only time the two worked together in the film industry, though they do work together outside of Hollywood.
JULIE YAEGER AND PAUL RUDD LIVE IN RHINEBECK, NEW YORK, WITH THEIR TWO CHILDREN
Julie Yaeger makes her home with her husband Paul in Rhinebeck, New York, a small town that a number of actors call home. The couple has two children, Jack Sullivan, born in 2006, and his sister Darby, born in 2010.
While the family does love to get out, there aren’t many pictures of the family, though there were a couple of nice ones when Paul Rudd got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015.
While Julie Yaeger was talking with the Morgans during Friday Night In, she shared parenting tips with the group. “All they need to know is that you’re there and you love them, and that’s really all that matters, not the latest contraptions, none of it,” Yaeger said. “They can play with a dish towel and a sponge and just be happy as anything else.”
THEY OWN SAMUEL’S SWEET SHOP
While Julie Yaeger has worked professionally with her husband in the past, they also have a working relationship that has nothing to do with movies or television.
And not only are both Julie and Paul involved in this working relationship but so are the Morgans, Jeffrey Dean and Hilarie. It all started with Jeffrey Dean, but he got his friends Paul and Julie quickly involved.
According to Morgan, he and Paul Rudd had been friends prior to meeting Samuel’s Sweet Shop owner, Ira Gutner. Gutner had purchased the candy store back in 1994 and was the proud owner until he tragically died in 2014.
“The first guy I met in this town called Rhinebeck was Ira, and he owned this candy store,” Morgan explained while he was on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
“He passed away a few years ago and Paul and I had been friends for a while and we just didn’t want it to turn into a smoothie stand or something.” He continued, “It had been there since the early ’90s so we were like, ‘Yeah, let’s pool our money together and get a candy store so now we’re the proud owners of Samuel’s Sweet Shop!“
So, while Morgan and Rudd were the driving force, Julie Yaeger and Hilarie were brought in to sign off on the store purchase, which they gladly did.
Julie Yaeger, along with her husband, maintains a private life. They do not spend time on social media as Paul Rudd does not have any presence on social media and the only account Julie has is a private Instagram.
