Hollywood actor Paul Rudd has revealed that he no longer takes his smartphone with him when he goes to movie sets, saying the decision has helped him disconnect from technology and engage more with the people around him.
Rudd explained that he has deliberately stopped bringing his phone to sets, describing smartphones as addictive and warning about their growing influence on people’s lives.
“I don’t go to sets with a phone. I haven’t done that for a while now. It’s important to put it down. Anytime. They’re horrible things. I’m addicted to it like everybody else. They’re facilitating our own destruction,” Rudd said.
The actor made the remarks while discussing his experience filming his new movie, A Statement, directed by Tom McCarthy.
According to Rudd, McCarthy introduced a strict no-phone policy on the set, a decision that he said unexpectedly brought the cast and crew closer together.
Rudd said the absence of phones meant cast members had fewer distractions and were encouraged to actually spend time talking to one another.
“The world has changed since cell phones have existed. We don’t look at each other or talk to each other quite the same way,” he said.
The actor explained that the environment reminded him of a period before smartphones became such a dominant part of everyday life.
“Now, [with the phone ban], we were forced to really spend time with each other and talk. Working on a movie set in 1980, we’re dressed in a certain kind of way. It felt like, ‘Oh, yeah, I remember this. This feels like it used to feel when people sat around and spoke to one another.’”
Rudd’s comments have sparked discussion about the impact of smartphones on face-to-face communication and how constant access to technology can affect social interactions.
For the actor, stepping away from his phone appears to have become a deliberate way of being more present, particularly in an environment where collaboration and human interaction are central to the filmmaking process.
His experience on A Statement also suggests that McCarthy’s phone restriction became more than a simple rule on set, creating an atmosphere where cast members could interact without the usual distractions of their devices.
