Photo: Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection

If any viewers have ever wondered whyPaul Ruddwas included inFriends' emotional series finale, the actor himself is right there with them.
TheAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniaactor shared his perspective on joining the legendary sitcom as Phoebe’s (Lisa Kudrow) husband Mike Hannigan in the penultimate season.
“It was really fun, and they were great! The whole thing was a bit surreal, I must say,” the 53-year-old actor said on theHeartbreakfast radio show. “I never knew that I was going to be in as many [episodes] as I was. But it also felt strange.”
NBC/Courtesy Everett Collection

He explained how joining near the end of the show after the cast and crew already worked together for eight seasons made him feel “strange” when he joined the show for its last episode.
While his costars were emotional at the end, Rudd said he felt like it might have been more appropriate if he took a backseat.
“I was in that last episode. And I just thought, ‘I shouldn’t be here… I’m getting, like, a front-row seat to things I’m not supposed to see,'” Rudd recalled. “They were all crying. It was all emotional. I was just like,Whoa.”
He added, “I felt very privileged, but I also was like,I just don’t want to sit back here and get in the way.”
Michael Schwartz

In PEOPLE’s latest cover story, Rudd revealed how excited he is for the role as he stars opposite some of his idols in the industry.
“I came in there, and there’s Meryl Streep, who is arguably the greatest of all time,” he recalls. “And Martin Short, who is one of the funniest people on the planet, and somebody that just, I love, I really love.”
He continued, “And yet to be there with Steve Martin, when I think back on people who probably had more of an impact on my life and my wanting to do this, or my understanding that performing or anything was even a career somebody would have, it was him.”
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Only Murders in the Buildingis currently in production on its third season. Seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream on Hulu, andFriendscan be streamed in full on HBO Max.
source: people.com