Hollywood actor Paul Rudd, whose father was an expert on the Titanic, paid an impromptu visit to the Titanic Experience Museum in Cobh, Co Cork today.
In a post on the museum’s Facebook page management said the Marvel actor has been a regular visitor to the region over the years “We were delighted to welcome Paul Rudd and his family to the Titanic Experience Cobh earlier today.
“Paul’s family has been a regular visitor to Cobh in the past because Paul’s father (the late Michael Rudd) had a great passion for history and Titanic history.
“As the last call, Cobh has a unique and emotional link to the story and we hope the Rudd family enjoyed our tour and our stories.
“We had some #antman fans at the experience today and thank you to Paul for his enthusiastic young fans (and the not so young fans!)”
In 2019, the New Jersey-born actor revealed that a young Leonardo DiCaprio had expressed uncertainty about taking on the role of the male lead jack in the Titanic movie.
The film went on to become one of the highest grossing films of all time.
Rudd and DiCaprio played together in Baz Lurhmann’s Romeo + Juliet, which was released the year before the Titanic.
In an interview on the Graham Norton show on BBC 1, the now 52-year-old actor said he had an “interesting conversation” with his co-star.
Rudd said he shared a car ride with DiCaprio on the way to a bar while they discussed what was next for the young heartbeat.
DiCaprio told Rudd that he was offered a role in James Cameron’s Titanic.
Coincidentally, Rudd’s late father Michael was a leading expert on Titanic, who took the world on tour to give university lectures on the subject.
“I went to the scene with Leo and he said, ‘I just got offered this movie, and it’s a great movie. And he had made indie films up to that point. He said, “It’s a studio movie, it’s Titanic,” Rudd said.
I said, ‘This is awful!’ And I knew a lot about Titanic because my dad just talked at the table and we had a conversation about it and [DiCaprio] said, ‘Oh, how I do not know what I will do.’
“I remember saying, ‘You should do it!’ I do not think I said anything, but it is interesting to think back. Because he did it. He made the film. ”
Michael Rudd was a member of the Titanic Historical Society. He had a deep love for the ship, and even traveled the world as a member of society, often as a tour guide in iconic places associated with the Titanic around the globe.
He was a regular visitor to Cobh and stayed at the Commodore Hotel.
He died in 2008 and his photo was posted a year later on the wall of the hotel in a ceremony attended by his family.
Born in London, Michael was a respected historical tour guide and ex-vice president of Trans World Airlines.
Cobh has a Titanic Memorial Garden located on the waterfront overlooking the Titanic’s last anchorage. The garden has a glass memorial wall bearing the names of the passengers who entered Queenstown.
The city also has a Titanic memorial on the town square, dedicated to the 79 passengers who boarded the Titanic in Cobh and lost their lives.
The city has a number of museums and heritage centers dedicated to Titanic history, including Cobh Heritage Center and The Titanic Experience.
On Thursday, April 11, 1912, 123 cruise passengers were aboard the Titanic in Cobh.
Four days later, the ship hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic and fell with the loss of more than 1,500 lives, including 79 of those on board Cobh.
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