Bridesmaids director Paul Feig explains cutting Paul Rudd out of the movie

To read more Untold Stories, pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly, on stands now, or buy it here — and subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW.

Bridesmaids screenwriters Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo wrote Paul Rudd the very specific role of blind date-turned-crazy man. Producer Judd Apatow convinced him to spend the day throwing his body down on an ice-skating rink, running around the set like a deranged fool and tossing expletives at small children. What did the comedic actor also known as Ant-Man receive in return for his day of hijinks? A big fat goose egg when the scene was deleted from the movie, much to Bridesmaids director Paul Feig’s dismay.

“There is always that terrible moment when you have to kill your babies,” says Feig of the scene in which Rudd plays a seemingly perfect blind date for Wiig’s Annie, only to transform into a deranged ice-skating sociopath when a chubby kid innocently skates over his finger.

“We did so many takes of it,” says Feig, happy to defy audience expectations of Rudd’s typical nice-guy persona. “It was one of the funniest things I’ve ever been a witness to.” (You can catch a glimpse of Rudd filming with Wiig in the bonus feature below from the Bridesmaids home release, at the 1:48 mark)

For more revelations from the past four decades of entertainment, visit ew.com/untoldstories.

So why was it axed? According to Feig, the movie was already running at two and a half hours and with audiences already required to navigate Annie’s odd love triangle involving Jon Hamm’s scuzzy commitment-phobe and Chris O’Dowd’s lovable police officer, adding a blind date sequence into the film only muddled matters.

“It just didn’t ring true that in addition to Jon and Chris, she’d be also going out on other dates to try and find more love,” Feig explains. “It made more sense that she’d be caught between these two guys. Very sadly, we cut all the blind date sequences out of the movie.”

So who told Rudd that the scene was cut? “Judd delivered the sad news,” says Feig. “I felt so bad about it.”