Background and career
Paul Rust is an American actor, comedian and writer. He starred in the 2009 film I Love You, Beth Cooper and the Netflix series Love.
Rust is the son of Jeanne and Bob Rust. His family is of German heritage. Rust was raised Roman Catholic and attended Gehlen Catholic High School in Le Mars, Iowa. His mother was a teacher at Le Mars Community High School and his father owned a Western goods and boot-repair shop. He graduated from the University of Iowa in May 2004. Rust struggled with obsessive-compulsive disorder in his youth.
Rust is best known as a standup and sketch comedian at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in Los Angeles, where he is a member of the sketch comedy group A Kiss from Daddy and the improv team Last Day of School. He has appeared in films such as Inglourious Basterds, Ass Backwards, Freak Dance, Paper Heart and Semi-Pro. He had his highest-profile acting role in 2009, playing the male lead in the comedy film I Love You, Beth Cooper alongside Hayden Panettiere. Rust has written for television programs such as Human Giant and Moral Orel. In 2010, Rust appeared in the Comedy Central sketch comedy special This Show Will Get You High, created by and starring Matt Besser. He and Paul Reubens co-wrote the 2016 Pee-wee Herman film Pee-wee's Big Holiday. Rust is a frequent guest on the Comedy Bang! Bang! podcast, where he is best known for his "New No-Nos" segment. He has written for IFC's Comedy Bang! Bang! and was a writer and story editor on the revived for Netflix fourth season of Arrested Development in 2013. Rust starred in the Judd Apatow-produced Netflix series Love (2016–2018) with Gillian Jacobs. He co-created the show with his wife, Lesley Arfin. Rust and the comedian Charlyne Yi formed the band The Glass Beef in 2006. They appeared together in a video for "Song Away" by Hockey. He is also the lead singer and bass guitar player in the comedy rock duo Don't Stop or We'll Die with fellow comedian Michael Cassady. The band had Harris Wittels on drums until his death. In 2018, Rust started hosting In Voorhees We Trust With Gourley and Rust with Matt Gourley, a podcast series reviewing every film in the Friday the 13th franchise. The self-proclaimed "easy-listening cozy-cast", now titled With Gourley and Rust, has had several seasons analyzing and discussing horror films.
Rust married comedy writer and author Lesley Arfin in October 2015. They have a daughter born in 2017.
Albums (with Don't Stop or We'll Die) Gorgeous (2014) Dazzle Me (2018) SONG-A-WEEK Volume One: Bloom of the Goji (2021) Lives of Leisure, SONG-A-WEEK Volume II (2021) Signature Please (2023) EPs (with Don't Stop or We'll Die) The Ballad of Bird and Fox (2008) One of the Gang (2011) Diamond Skies Over Western Dreams (2019)
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
