American comedy star Paul Rudd has revealed he has an Irish pub in his basement and told an emotional story about why he chose to build the bar.
The Living with Yourself star said that the pub was built both in honour of his father and as a gift to his son
Rudd’s first basement bar was called Sullivan’s and built for him as a gift from his father Michael.
Michael wanted to do something special for the family to celebrate the birth of Paul’s son Jack.
Keen for his gift to a little different to the norm, Michael decided to build a bar in the basement of Paul’s home that Jack would be able to enjoy once he was grown up.
Paul told New York Magazine that his father said: “I want my grandson to own his own Irish pub.”
Michael built the bar in Paul’s home in Kansas and called it Sullivan’s – which was baby Jack’s middle name.
This was in 2004, not long before Rudd’s career started to move to the next level.
After around a decade of appearing in movies and TV, Rudd was becoming a household name thanks to roles in Anchorman and the TV series Friends.
He had to relocate to New York for work and Michael planned to build another Irish pub in the basement of his son’s new home in Rhinebeck.
Sadly, this never happened as Michael was diagnosed with cancer and passed away before the work was completed.
Rudd honoured his father by building the Irish pub in his basement.
He said: “It’s a full-on authentic Irish pub. It’s got Guinness on tap and everything.”
The Ant Man star has previous revealed that he has worked hard to convert the basement into a proper working bar rather than simply a hideaway to bring a few bottles of beer.
He said: “I go to this place in Poughkeepsie to get kegs of Guinness, and I clean the lines, I hook it up and I have Guinness on tap.
“I know how to do the angle, I know how long it takes to pour the perfect pint, I know where to stop it – I work on it.. by myself… in the basement of my home.”
Written by Michael Kehoe @michaelcalling
