How Paul Rudd and Judd Apatow got along before even meeting in person

Paul Rudd remembers being "pen pals" with Judd Apatow before they first met in the early 2000s.

The confession came during an April 28 episode of the Smartless podcast where the 56-year-old Rudd spoke about how he first learned that he and Apatow had something in common.

"The first time I ever met Judd, it really is a weird thing," Rudd told hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett.

"I don't know if you guys feel this way about those Steve Martin records. I know we've talked about them a lot, but it seems as if a lot of people in our generation, those albums had a big effect on them."

He continued, "And, one time I was at a dinner and I was talking about fake names and how it's so difficult to come up with a perfect, funny, fake name. And I said a great example is 'Gern Blanston,' which was from an early Steve Martin routine. And someone at the dinner said, 'Gern Blanston. Oh, that explains Judd Apatow's email address.'"

"I went home and emailed Judd," Rudd said. "I'd never met him. And I said, 'Hey man, nice, nice reference on your email address. That's amazing.' And he emailed me back."

The duo remained pen pals "for about a year" before they met for the first time when Rudd went in to audition for a role in Apatow's 2004 film, Anchorman.

"We became kind of pen pals. Never met each other. And it wasn't until Anchorman that I actually met him," Rudd said. "When I went into audition, he was there and it was a little bit like, you know, meeting your, your pen pal that it's like, 'Oh my God. Wow. I can't believe. There you are.'"

The actor and director duo also made several other iconic films like This Is 40 and Knocked Up over the years.