NEW YORK -- He was Alicia Silverstone's stepbrother sweetheart in "Clueless," and lost Claire Danes to Leonardo DiCaprio in the recent MTV meets Mad Max remix of "Romeo and Juliet."

Now, Paul Rudd is making his Broadway debut in "The Last Night of Ballyhoo," Alfred Uhry's first play since "Driving Miss Daisy," which officially opens Feb. 27 at the Helen Hayes Theater.

In the production, now in previews, the 27-year-old Rudd plays Joe Farkas, a rough-edged yet levelheaded New Yorker of Eastern European Jewish descent. He is the catalyst in Mr. Uhry's drama about self-denial and anti-Semitism within the Jewish community in Atlanta in 1939.

Joe's presence disturbs the uptight, social-climbing members of a German-Jewish family.

They are more concerned about the film premiere of "Gone with the Wind" -- Joe hasn't even read the book -- and who will invite whom to Ballyhoo, the classiest Jewish social event of the season.

"The play was Uhry's upbringing," the curly-haired, genial Mr. Rudd said the other day during an interview in a Union Square coffee bar. "He grew up in Atlanta, in a world of 'How dare anyone hug each other?' or show any kind of affection whatsoever. To hear him talk about what Christmas was like in his house when he was a kid or what Yiddish was spoken was invaluable."

Growing up Jewish in Kansas, Mr. Rudd says he could relate to some of Mr. Uhry's stories, especially those about assimilation.

"For Joe, it isn't a strange thing to be Jewish," Mr. Rudd says. "He is proud of it. I was a minority in the school I went to," adding that he tried to assimilate much like some of the characters in Mr. Uhry's play.

"Sometimes it was painful in high school -- being in the cafeteria and hearing people call me names. I wound up making more Jewish jokes about myself than I ever heard from other people. One thing I always remember: Whenever I would tell a Jewish joke, it always was a guaranteed laugh. It was a defense mechanism for acceptance.

"I remember if I was dating a girl in high school, the time was going to come when she would find out I was Jewish -- and it was a scary thought. That's the way it was. Joe, this character in 'Ballyhoo,' is not like that. He knows who he is."

The Last Night of Ballyhoo" originally was performed last year at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta, with Dana Ivey in the leading role of a socially ambitious Southern matriarch. Ms. Ivey stars in the New York production, too, with Mr. Rudd now along for the ride.

"It's a luxury working on a play and having the writer there all the time," he says. "To be able to do a scene and then be able to talk about that scene with the man who wrote it -- and then if something doesn't work, figure out what doesn't and fix it. That's new for me. Most of the plays I've worked on, the writer has been dead for 300 years."

Mr. Rudd studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena, Calif., before nailing a role as a sporadically appearing character on the television series "Sisters."

But it is "Clueless" that has given Mr. Rudd the most recognition, particularly among the little girls who have made the movie a staple of pajama parties and Saturday night sleepovers.

Yet the actor hasn't tried to capitalize on its success.

"I'm blown away by watching the whole Hollywood marketing machine in action," he says. "It's disturbing. I've seen people -- I couldn't name anything they have been in -- and they are huge stars. That isn't interesting to me.

"I'm constantly changing my views on acting. I think acting really is probably a breeze, super-easy. I get in my own way sometimes. I'm just happy to explore and take roles that are challenging. And things that I can learn. I don't want to be the lead in the new John Grisham movie."

What he does have finished are three small, independent movies with offbeat characters -- "The Locusts," "The Size of Watermelons" and "Overnight Delivery," all of which are awaiting release.

"I've always been drawn to the man of noble intentions who just has not had the best hand dealt in life," Mr. Rudd says. "Guys trying to get by while keeping a sense of dignity and their spirit alive. Any song Tom Waits writes is about this type of guy."

Mr. Rudd has signed with "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" into September, although right now he can't look past rehearsals and the pressure of opening night.

"Eventually, when we know where the play is at and it's relaxed and we can just show up at the theater, I might be able to return some of those phone calls that have been piling up and pay some of those bills," he says with a sigh.