Paul Rust is an American actor, comedian and writer. He starred in the 2009 film '' I Love You, Beth Cooper'' and in the Netflix series ''

Love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

''.

Early life

Rust is the son of Jeanne and Bob Rust. His family is of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

heritage. Rust was raised

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and attended Gehlen Catholic High School. His mother was a teacher at Le Mars Community High School and his father owned a Western goods and boot-repair shop. He graduated from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

in May 2004. Rust struggled with obsessive-compulsive disorder in his youth.

Career

Rust is best known as a stand-up and sketch comedian at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in Los Angeles, where he is a member of the sketch comedy group A Kiss from Daddy and the improv team Last Day of School. He has appeared in films such as ''

Inglourious Basterds ''Inglourious Basterds'' is a 2009 epic film, epic war film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It stars an ensemble cast including Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Daniel Brühl, Til Schweiger ...

'', '' Ass Backwards'', '' Freak Dance'', '' Paper Heart'' and '' Semi-Pro''. He made his most high-profile acting role in summer 2009, playing the male lead in the comedy film '' I Love You, Beth Cooper'' alongside

Hayden Panettiere Hayden Lesley Panettiere ( ; born August 21, 1989) is an American actress and singer. She has starred as Claire Bennet on the NBC superhero series ''Heroes (American TV series), Heroes'' (2006–2010), Kirby Reed in the slasher film, slasher Ho ...

. Rust has written for television programs such as '' Human Giant'' and '' Moral Orel''. In November 2010, Rust appeared in the

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

sketch comedy special ''This Show Will Get You High'', created by and starring

Matt Besser Matthew Gregory Besser (born September 22, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, director, producer, writer, and one of the four founding members of the Upright Citizens Brigade sketch comedy troupe, who had their own show on Comedy Central from 1 ...

. He and

Paul Reubens Paul Reubens (; ; August 27, 1952 – July 30, 2023) was an American actor and comedian, widely known for creating and portraying the character Pee-wee Herman. Born in Peekskill, New York and raised in both Oneonta, New York and Sarasota, Flo ...

co-wrote the Pee-wee Herman film ''

Pee-wee's Big Holiday ''Pee-wee's Big Holiday'' is a 2016 American adventure comedy film directed by John Lee and written by Paul Reubens and Paul Rust. The film stars Reubens as Pee-wee Herman and Joe Manganiello as himself. It is the second standalone sequel to ' ...

'', which was released in 2016. Rust appears as a frequent guest on the '' Comedy Bang! Bang!'' podcast, where he is best known for his "New No-Nos" segment. He has written for IFC's '' Comedy Bang! Bang!'' and also as a writer and story editor on the revived for

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

fourth season of ''

Arrested Development ''Arrested Development'' is an American satire, satirical television sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz. It follows the Bluths, a formerly wealthy, dysfunctional family and is presented in a Serial (radio and television), serialized format, inco ...

'' in 2013. Rust starred in the

Judd Apatow Judd Apatow (; born December 6, 1967) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and comedian known for his work in comedy films. Apatow is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he wrote, produced, and directed his films ''The 4 ...

-produced Netflix series ''

'' (2016–2018) with

Gillian Jacobs Gillian MacLaren Jacobs (; born October 19, 1982) is an American actress. She is known for playing Britta Perry in the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), Mickey Dobbs in the Netflix romantic comedy series '' Love'' (2016–2018), and Mar ...

. He co-created the show with his wife, Lesley Arfin. Rust and the comedian Charlyne Yi formed the band The Glass Beef in 2006. They appeared together in a video for "Song Away" by

Hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

. He is also the lead singer and bass guitar player in the comedy rock duo Don't Stop or We'll Die with fellow comedian Michael Cassady. The band had Harris Wittels on drums until his death. In 2018, he started hosting ''In Voorhees We Trust With Gourley and Rust'' with Matt Gourley, a podcast series reviewing every film in the ''Friday the 13th'' franchise. The self-proclaimed "easy-listening cozy-cast," now simply titled ''With Gourley and Rust'', has had several seasons analyzing and discussing horror films.

Personal life

Rust married comedy writer and author Lesley Arfin in October 2015. They have a daughter born in 2017.

Filmography

Film

Television

Discography

;Albums (with Don't Stop or We'll Die) * ''Gorgeous'' (2014) * ''Dazzle Me'' (2018) *''SONG-A-WEEK Volume One: Bloom of the Goji'' (2021) *''Lives of Leisure, SONG-A-WEEK Volume II'' (2021) *''Signature Please'' (2023) ;EPs (with Don't Stop or We'll Die) * ''The Ballad of Bird and Fox'' (2008) * ''One of the Gang'' (2011) *''Diamond Skies Over Western Dreams'' (2019)

References

External links

*
Paul Rust on Myspace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rust, Paul Living people Male actors from Iowa American comedy musicians American male film actors American stand-up comedians American male television actors American male voice actors American television writers American male television writers University of Iowa alumni American people of German descent Upright Citizens Brigade Theater performers Screenwriters from Iowa 21st-century American comedians American Roman Catholics 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American male writers Year of birth missing (living people) People with obsessive–compulsive disorder Comedians from Iowa American male comedians