Hollywood star Paul Rudd, who played Ant-Man in the Marvel movie, has kicked into hero mode in real life, responding to a now-viral online post and connecting with a 12-year-old boy desperately seeking friends.
The actor initially responded to a Facebook* post by a Colorado mom saying that her son Brody had only got two autographs for his yearbook.
"My poor son. Two teachers and a total of two students wrote in his yearbook. Despite Brody asking all kinds of kids to sign it... So Brody took it upon himself to write to himself,” mom Cassandra Cooper wrote on Facebook*, adding, "My heart is shattered."
In response, Russ decided to help the boy and surprised him with a Facetime call, which was later shared on Instagram.*
"I heard about you. I'm like, 'I gotta talk to this kid because this kid sounds like my kind of guy", he said during the call. "Likes chess, likes fencing, likes dinosaurs... am I right?" he continued. "Well, I'm very excited that I get to talk to you and I get to meet you!"
In addition, Rudd sent Brody a handwritten note and a very real Ant-Man helmet signed by the superhero himself.
*Instagram and Facebook are products by Meta, banned in Russia over extremist activities