Paul Rust

Up until the end of college, Paul Rust's sphere was mostly just Iowa. Following his graduation from the University of Iowa in 2004, though, he moved on to chase the dream of comedy, heading out to Los Angeles and regularly performing stand-up and improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in the area. His first credited roles were in the movie "Exquisite Corpse" (2004) and the TV show "Drake & Josh" (Nickelodeon 2004-07). He also wrote for a few TV shows as well around the same time, including "Moral Orel" (Adult Swim 2005-08) and "Rob & Big" (MTV 2006-08). Following a bit part in the Will Ferrell-starring "Semi-Pro" (2008), Rust's big break was upon him, as he played the lead role in the Chris Columbus comedy "I Love You, Beth Cooper" (2009) and appeared in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds" (2009). He went more to the background after 2009, though, providing voices for a few cartoons including "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" (Adult Swim 2000-2015). Around this time, Rust started working with Paul Reubens on his Pee-Wee Herman Broadway revival show, and was credited as a writer for it. He followed that up by co-writing the Netflix film "Pee-wee's Big Holiday" (2016) with Reubens. During that same period, Rust also wrote for and appeared on several episodes of "Comedy Bang! Bang!" (IFC 2012- ) and was the story editor on the fourth season of "Arrested Development" (Fox 2003-2006, Netflix 2013). He then paired up with Judd Apatow to co-create the show "Love" (Netflix 2016- ), which he starred in with Gillian Jacobs.