Paul Rudd Admits to Feeling Only Like a 'Prop' While Playing Mike Hannigan on 'Friends'

Paul Rudd is known for acting in films like Clueless, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, and Ant-Man, but he will always be known in my heart as Mike Hannigan, Phoebe Buffay's best and last love interest on Friends. I loved his character from the moment he played air piano to win Phoebe over, but apparently Rudd felt simply like a "prop" while filming the popular sitcom.

As reported by DigitalSpy, Rudd recently spoke with his Marvel co-star Chris Evans as part of Variety's Actors on Actors series, where the pair discussed their past and present acting roles in various film and television projects. When the conversation turned to Rudd's time on Friends, where he portrayed Mike from 2002 through the show's conclusion in 2004, the Ant-Man actor didn't pull punches.

"In something like Friends, the show was about them. I was only in it for just a blip. I felt, 'I'm like a prop on this show. It's not about Mike Hannigan,'" Rudd explained. "But there's a very interesting feeling to be a part of something that has that kind of profound impact on pop culture."

You can watch Evans and Rudd's full conversation below.

"It was never the original idea. I only ever signed on for two episodes but they kept writing more and had more ideas for that character, so it was certainly exciting," Rudd added. "But it was a strange phenomenon to work with this very well established and highly regarded group of people known all over the world."

All in all, Rudd appeared as Mike in a grand total of 17 episodes and became a much-loved minor character on the show. Even if Rudd felt like an insignificant part of it all, Mike and Phoebe's winter wedding outside of Central Perk remains one of the cutest moments on Friends.