Paul Rudd's Son Loves the Billy Joel Song "Zanzibar" Because Of Course He Does

The actor who refuses to age talks Sesame Street, ‘raoking with the boys, and his son's appreciation for musical deep cuts.

Paul Rudd portrait by basqgen

In 2011, Playboy flew me to LA to interview Paul Rudd, who was promoting… something, I forget what. A film where he’s charmingly self-effacing, probably? Anyway, I met him at Chateau Marmont, where we consumed four full pots of coffee in rapid succession. Rudd also enjoyed some scrambled eggs with extra bacon, claiming it was a direct order from director Judd Apatow. (“Every time we work together, he wants me to gain weight,” Paul told me. “He’s like, ‘I like a fat Rudd.’”

We talked about many things—onscreen male nudity, his pre-acting career as a dancing dweeb DJ, the Irish pub his dad built in his basement—but my favorite bits were all about parenting. Specifically, his son’s obsession with the Billy Joel song “Zanzibar.”

That exchange never made it into the published interview, but for years it was my go-to anecdote when people asked what I do for a living. I’ve told this yarn at countless dinner parties and get-togethers, and it invariably leads to discussions about our own deep-cut obsessions. (I have mixed emotions about Billy Joel, but I can still belt out “Where’s the Orchestra?” from memory.)

So here, for the first time ever, is the Paul Rudd “Zanzibar” story, along with a few other musical highlights plucked straight from the transcript.