- Born
- Birth nameDerek Aaron Ruell
- Height5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
- Aaron Ruell was born on June 23, 1976 in Fresno, California, USA. He is a director and actor, known for Napoleon Dynamite (2004), Mary (2005) and Everything's Gone Green (2005). He is married to Yuka Ruell.
- SpouseYuka Ruell(? - present)
- Got his start as a still photographer. He directed the title sequence of Napoleon Dynamite (2004). He also directed the hilarious Powerade commercial showing the Amish drag race between two hay bale-carrying, horse-drawn carts. The commercial was pulled from the air due to a lawsuit between Pepsi (which owns Gatorade) and Coca-Cola (which owns Powerade). Coke settled out of court.
- Currently lives in Pasadena, California, with his wife.
- Grew up in Fresno, California.
- Graduated from Clovis West (CA) High School in 1994.
- Cast Bo Barrett in one of his first directed commericals.
- I don't want to do the nerdy, goofy guy again. That was really fitting for the 'Napoleon' world, but that's kind of where I want it to stay.
- I feel as if I've been fairly successful with maintaining a cohesive tone between the work I make as a photographer and as a director.
- If I do a certain number of ads, I have to do a personal project in between, just for my own sanity. I still consider myself a punk-rock kid.
- My introduction to the Madonna Inn came as a young boy when we would take summer vacations to a nearby town. My dad would take us into their gift shop bathroom, which was a huge waterfall that functioned as the men's urinal. So as a kid, this was the most amazing thing I had ever seen.
- Being an actor really, really strengthens me as a director. There's just a certain type of understanding that comes from having been there and knowing how much is really being asked of actors that helps me.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
