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‘You’re the coolest kid’: Paul Rudd writes letter to bullied schoolboy
Ant-Man actor befriends Brody Ridder of Colorado, whose classmates refused to sign his yearbook

‘You’re the coolest kid’: Paul Rudd writes letter to bullied schoolboy

The actor Paul Rudd has sent a handwritten letter to a 12-year-old boy after he received just two signatures from fellow students in his school yearbook.

The pair also spoke on FaceTime after Brody Ridder, from Colorado, came home from school with the yearbook.

Brody, who signed his own blank yearbook with the message: “Hope you make some more friends,” had reportedly been repeatedly alienated and bullied by his classmates.

But after his mother, Cassandra, posted about the incident in a Facebook post that went viral, the school pupil struck up a friendship with his favourite superhero.

Ant-Man star Rudd, 53, made contact with the family and arranged a FaceTime call, in which the pair bonded over their shared interests in chess, fencing and dinosaurs.

Rudd then followed up with a signed Ant-Man helmet and letter, in which the former Clueless star reassured Brody that “things get better” and to remember the many people who love him.

“Dear Brody, it was great talking to you the other day. It’s important to remember that even when life is tough that things get better,” he wrote.

“There are so many people that love you and think you’re the coolest kid there is – me being one of them!

“I can’t wait to see all the amazing things you’re going to accomplish. Your pal, Paul.”

The actor also included a handwritten note on the front of the Ant-Man helmet, in which he encouraged Brody to “take on the world”.

“To my good friend Brody for when he takes on the world!” he wrote.

In a Facebook post, Cassandra called Rudd an “amazing human being”, while revealing that she and her son had continued to stay in touch via text message.

“Guys, more tears. Paul Rudd is an amazing human being. Brody and Paul are on texting terms now. The text message got me,” she wrote.

Speaking to the Independent, she said the exchange and gift had left her son “ecstatic”.

As well as sparking a friendship with Rudd, Brody’s story has prompted an outpouring of support from other pupils, including older pupils from his school.

According to the Washington Post, after hearing that his classmates had declined to wish him well, a group of older students visited Brody in his class, filling his yearbook with impromptu signatures and compassionate messages.