While promoting Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Paul Rudd was live on the air during an appearance on BBC Radio 1, which he found himself getting pranked by a friend and fellow celebrity Olivia Colman (seen below).
In a segment on BBC Radio called Agony Ant-Man, Paul Rudd was answering callers’ questions about personal dilemmas. The Favourite star started to describe a friend who lives outside of England, and while visiting the country on a radio show, he hasn’t told his friend that he was in the area. Slowly, the Ant-Man star starts to piece together that it is him who this mysterious woman is talking about.
“I wanted to pick your brains, so what would you do if you had a really good mate? Like, you know, for over 20 years and then, this friend, yeah, doesn’t live in England, but he’s come to England, and he hasn’t told you about it. And then, not only has he not told you about it, he’s come onto a radio show. What would you do?”
By this point, Paul Rudd has it together that it is about him, but the accent from the caller on BBC Radio 1 is not clicking. The dread comes out as he says, “Oh my god. Oh no.” When asked if he “would be offended,” he comes up with an honest and clever answer for this dilemma.
“Personally, if it’s me? Absolutely not. I tend to give everybody the benefit of the doubt.”
When the caller revealed herself, the Marvel veteran was impressed as he told her that she “really can do every accent.”
Olivia Colman reveals herself after she pranked Paul Rudd on BBC Radio 1
The AMAZING moment when *actual* Olivia Colman called into Radio 1 Breakfast to prank Paul Rudd (AKA the 'Agony Ant-Man') 😭@gregjames pic.twitter.com/Nz4Qu65z5y
— BBC Radio 1 (@BBCR1) February 17, 2023
How this situation came about, it turns out that Olivia Colman is a big fan of the BBC Radio show, especially its host, Greg James. When she heard that Paul Rudd was coming onto BBC Radio 1 for Agony Ant-Man, she reached out to James to see if she could pull this joke on her old friend.
Not many people know the two stars’ history as friends. They shared the story about working on a play decades ago. He would come to where she lived in London to “stay on the floor.” They would go out, like having “Sunday lunch.” Since then, they have stayed in touch and briefly worked together. Although The Crown star had a small role, they can both be seen in 2007’s I Could Never Be Your Woman.
The Ant-Man star has had quite the time in the MCU. He has become one of the leading people in it from his role in Endgame and what Quantumania means for the MCU moving forward as it delivers Jonathan Majors’ Kang on the big screen. Soon, in Secret Invasion, Olivia Colman will enter the MCU and potentially cross paths with her friend if Marvel’s plans reunite the two stars.