When producers for the Eva Longoria Parker ghost comedy Over Her Dead Body went looking for a male lead, we're sure that even they expected to settle for a "Paul Rudd type," not Rudd himself. Yet the actor turned up in the movie anyway, a decision that puzzled many after Rudd finally broke through this decade with woolly, improvised performances in Wet Hot American Summer and the bulk of Judd Apatow's cinematic oeuvre. Now, while speaking to AICN's Capone on the promo tour for his new film Role Models, Rudd admits that he'd rather leave Body off his body of work:

PR: I have some explaining to do. [laughs]...Yeah, that was tough, that was a tough moment in my life. Capone: Was it tough at the moment, or was it only tough after? PR: It was tough…it got tougher…you know, I feel a little asshole-ish doggin’ it, because the guy [Jeff Lowell] who wrote and directed it is a great guy and naturally a very funny guy…I went into it thinking that it might be a little different take than it really was...I get it that the whole ‘dead coming back’ is right there under the ‘personality switching’ food chain of movie crapdom. I get that now. ...I’ve certainly done some clunkers, for sure. And, I take it really hard. It really bums me out. And, that one…I got kind of depressed when it came out, in all honesty...And, I think, I maybe was not the best choice. And, I also was not very good in it. So, I take responsibility for how kind of crummy I was in that, but you know… Capone: [Laughs] You didn’t stand out as being the crummiest thing. PR: Well, it’s a tough…it seemed like a movie, like…When I watched it, I thought, They don’t really make movies like this anymore. It seems like this was from 1984, you know?

Rudd goes on to say that the film wasn't simply a paycheck gig for him, though we certainly hope he was well-compensated to fill out a billing block that could boast little besides Longoria Parker and Jason Biggs. Perhaps he truly did believe in the writer/director, but we think it's more likely that he simply couldn't withstand Longoria Parker's unique brand of flattery/coercion: "Jesus! We want you in this movie! Be nice. FUCK!"