Some stars draw us to the theater with killer curves, sexy pouts, rippling muscles, intense swaggers, and incredible beauty. Then there are those that we go to the movies to see because it feels like somehow, we’ve come to know them from watching their movies. They’re almost like next door neighbors you have Sunday morning brunch with or people you’ve met at your kids’ PTA meetings or maybe even old friends from college. That’s why when you put two of them together, like Paul Rudd and Reese Witherspoon in How Do You Know, you can’t help but root for them whole heartedly. In honor of the pairing of these two loveable stars next door, we’ve taken a look at the stars that feel like old friends and even made plans for play-dates, just in case we’re lucky enough to become actual friends some day. (Fingers crossed!)
The Dudes
Paul Rudd
Friendliest face-time: How Do You Know, I Love You Man
He’s infinitely likable, completely adorable (but not so adorable that his good looks make dudes feel inadequate), sweetly snarky, and he’s got that oh-so trustworthy face; that’s why we love to root for him. Rudd seems like the type of person who you could spill all your troubles and secrets to. He’d listen and have the perfect awkward, jokey responses. Even though he’s actually a huge star who’s been in movies since the 90s (many of them were even pop culture phenoms like Clueless), he really seems like he’s down to earth enough to sympathize with someone’s Average Joe problems.
Neighborly activity: Grabbing some happy hour brewskis together on a weekday night
Friendliest face-time: Forgetting Sarah Marshall, How I Met Your Mother
First off, the dude wrote a puppet musical about vampires and convinced someone to let him put it in a movie; I automatically want to be his best friend. He’s hilarious and obviously doesn’t really care about the inner workings of the celebrity lifestyle, staying out of the spotlight as much as possible (besides, he’s already left little to the imagination after that entirely revealing scene in Forgetting Sarah Marshall – score one for total humility). He does nothing but play another version of himself in every movie, but he comes off a laid back, fun dude and it’s fun to watch him do it because we all wish we could invite him over to hang on a lazy Sunday.
Neighborly activity: Jam session in sweatpants with intermissions to eat cereal out of a giant bowl and nom on fish tacos (yes, at the same time)
Friendliest face-time: The Office, The 40-Year Old Virgin
Carell is like that hilarious neighbor that you always want to make sure ends up at your holiday parties, backyard barbeques and kid’s birthday bashes. He’s the fun uncle who’s not actually related, but everyone in the family always welcomes him with excited smiles and big hugs. He keeps the adults in stitches and as far as the kids go he’s far better than some two-bit birthday clown. Just look at his movies, he’s got something to make everyone laugh.
Neighborly activity: Inviting him to help with the grilling honors for your yearly backyard barbeque
Friendliest face-time: The Big Lebowski, Crazy Heart
Who could be more buddy-worthy than The Dude himself? Jeff Bridges is that unique kind of star that has infinite pull, yet doesn’t have a look that says “Hollywood.” The guy’s got an Oscar, but he’s also got that signature scraggly beard like that old retired biker who used to live across the street from your parents and he talks like an old prospector. Whereas some people shoot up into the starry A-list stratosphere after career milestones that he’s enjoyed, Bridges still feels incredibly accessible. He’s the anti-celeb kind of guy who we love because he’s everything other celebs aren’t, but maybe that’s just like, my opinion, man.
Neighborly activity: Getting nice and boozy on a weekday afternoon, followed by rug shopping and bowling
The Ladies
Friendliest face-time: How Do You Know, Sweet Home Alabama
She’s that adorable, bubbly girl with a twinge of her remaining southern drawl whose near perfection should be obnoxious but serves as an All American spell that no one seems to be able to escape, but how can you not love that smile? Don’t you just want to hug her? We’ve all known a girl like that at one point; if you’re a guy, you were madly in love with her, and if you’re a lady, you wanted to be her best friend. She’s the type of cheerful person who just sprouts positivity, and who wouldn’t want to grab a cup of coffee with some like that?
Neighborly activity: Taking a morning hike together, followed by coffee and girl talk
Friendliest face-time: Golden Girls, The Proposal
Miss Betty White has become America’s grandmother overnight. She’s that sweet adorable grandmother figure that plays on our love for our own grandmothers until she opens her mouth and says something like “If I had a dick this is where I’d tell you to suck it.” She’s popped up just about everywhere in the last year playing on that endlessly entertaining dichotomy, including as the sassy grandmother in The Proposal, a hardened criminal on SNL, and an archaeology professor who goes ape on her student in an episode of Community. Go ahead and try and tell me you don’t want to hang with a kickass grandma.
Neighborly activity: Baking cookies while telling dirty jokes (and my guess is it’s only a matter of time until Betty breaks out the whiskey)
Friendliest face-time: 13 Going on 30, Juno
Like Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Garner’s got that All American charm and always comes across as down to earth, even if the paparazzi attempt to catch her every move. Somehow she manages to stay sane and from what we can tell, fairly normal. She braves the annoyance of constant camera flashes to take her kids out for fun afternoons and play dates. Like her Bostonian of a husband, Ben Affleck, Garner is a huge Red Sox fan, and she can even recite the lineup backwards while wearing a Yankee hat and holding a picture of Derek Jeter. Any girl who knows her baseball is pretty awesome in my book.
Neighborly activity: Taking the family to a baseball game together (as long as you aren’t a Yankee fan)
Friendliest face-time: 30 Rock, Mean Girls
I don’t know how many ways I can profess my love for the queen of being down to earth. Her self-inspired 30 Rock persona makes the rest of us feel alright about our night cheese habits, secret nerdy hobbies, and strange body issues. Fey’s not afraid to share her love of all of those delicious and calorie filled junk foods; she’s actually said in an interview with Esquire, “I really believe, when I first tried it, if I had a penis, I would put it in this doughnut,” about her first visit to a famous Brooklyn donut shop. In addition to dispelling the Carrie Bradshaw era of fantasizing about dresses we’d have to eat only lettuce for a month in order to fit into, Fey helps us laugh and be okay with the people we really are – especially when we’re home alone wearing a snuggie and shamefully scarfing down wontons.
Neighborly activity: Watching a Star Wars marathon while pigging out on cheese soup and donuts fresh from the microwave
