Paul Rudd Surprises Ant-Man Kids Charity Screening in NYC

At the AMC theaters in Times Square Tuesday night, a theater full of kids from two charities, [...]

At the AMC theaters in Times Square Tuesday night, a theater full of kids from two charities, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of New York and SAY, got a big surprise from Marvel Studios' smallest hero as Paul Rudd came to address the crowd and take pictures with the kids before a screening of Ant-Man. The event was co-sponsored by Marvel Studios and New York Daily News.

SAY was a personal choice of Rudd's after the actor's decade of volunteering with the organization, which provides speech therapy, summer camp, and after school programs to children who suffer from a stutter. He has been a board member since 2007, after finding SAY when researching a role in a play of a character that stutters. Rudd even entered the screening with a member of SAY, an 8 year-old named Kaiden Roman who he and presenters called "Ant-Kid" for the presentation.

"How many people are fans of ants?" Rudd asked to a crowd who only responded with a few nervous laughs. The crowd cheered much louder in excitement for seeing the movie and being Marvel fans, however.

The actor also made sure the group of young fans stuck around for both of two credits scenes attached to the movie.

"I love you guys, we go back," he said to the SAY charity. "It's really cool to be here with you."

Rudd took a few pictures with individual kids and the full crowd before "getting out of the way," as he said, to let them watch the movie.

This is the latest in a series of similar screenings put on by the Daily News that partner with various children's charities and other non-profit organizations in New York. Robert Downey, Jr. showed up for Avengers: Age of Ultron, and other actors have made appearances with most Marvel movies for the past few years (so if you get the chance to attend one of their charity screenings - it'll probably be worth it!).

Ant-Man premieres Friday, July 17, 2015. See where other Marvel and comic book movies fall on the full upcoming schedule here.

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