Conan O'Brien imagines Paul Rudd playing Mac & Me clip to his deathbed

There’s a universe in which Paul Rudd’s latest film, Anaconda, is just an elaborate, multi-million dollar prank to expose unsuspecting viewers to that scene from Mac & Me in which a boy in a wheelchair flies down a hill and off a cliff. Sadly, we don’t live in such a universe. We’ll just have to take solace in Rudd’s continued efforts to delight Conan O’Brien with the clip, tricking the talk show host into airing one of the strangest moments from one of the strangest feature-length McDonald’s advertisements ever. To that end, on a recent episode of the Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend podcast, Rudd did his duty by crafting an obviously sweaty introduction to the bit by claiming it was a clip from Anaconda. Rudd struggles get through the setup, explaining that “Anaconda was based on a book” and that the scene in question shows how his character acquired the rights. Rudd barely attempts to stifle his laughter in the setup, as soon as it begins, O’Brien and co-hosts Sona Movsesian and Matt Gourley know what they’re in for. “This is the least you’ve ever tried,” O’Brien tells him. Rudd confirms that he hates “it when I set it up” and hates it “when I’m sitting watching. “Nevertheless, Conan expects to see it on his deathbed. The host plays out the scenario in which he’ll be in a lot of pain in the hospital, but nurses will tell a visiting Rudd that “he’s pretty good right now” but “doesn’t have long to live.”

“You’ll come in to say, ‘Hi,’ and I know you’re going to do a thing where I’m kind of in and out, but I’m there, and I’m so happy to see you, and then you’re going to say, ‘I just got good news from your doctor. They did a scan, and they actually can’t find any of the disease in the area. Take a look at the scan.’ And it’s going to be that. And it’s going to make me really happy.”

“I’m so touched,” Rudd responds. “That, by the way, is a really great way to do it because you have the X-ray box lit up on the wall. I’ve thought of other scenarios and that’s way better.”

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