- Michael Cera
-
Michael Cera 
Michael Cera, 2007Born Michael Austin Cera
June 7, 1988
Brampton, Ontario, CanadaOccupation Actor, occasional musician Years active 1998–present Michael Austin Cera (
/ˈtʃɛrə/; born June 7, 1988)[1] is a Canadian actor best known for his roles in Arrested Development, Youth in Revolt, Superbad, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and Juno. Cera received the 2008 Canadian Comedy Award for best male performance for his work in Superbad.Contents
Early life
Cera was born in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. He is the son of Linda, a native of Quebec, and Luigi Cera, a technician who is originally from Sicily.[2][3][4] His parents both worked for Xerox.[5] Cera has an older sister, Jordan, and a younger sister, Molly. He became interested in acting after viewing Ghostbusters repeatedly when sick with the chicken pox at the age of three. He memorized all the dialogue and idolized Bill Murray.[6] He enrolled in The Second City Toronto and took improvisation classes.[6]
He attended Conestoga Public School, Robert H. Lagerquist Senior Public School and Heart Lake Secondary School until grade nine, but then completed high school through correspondence.[2][7]
Acting
His first role was an unpaid appearance in a Tim Hortons summer camp commercial.[2][7][8] That eventually led to a Pillsbury commercial in which he poked the Pillsbury Doughboy, his first role with lines.[9]
Rise
"Arrested Development never felt safe. Even the first season, we did thirteen episodes, and we thought we'd never do a back nine. So I never thought in a million years we'd get to make three seasons. I was happy we got that far. I thought it was really good, and I'm really proud of it. I don't think we made a bad episode."
Cera's career began when he was cast as Larrabe Hicks in the Canadian television series I Was a Sixth Grade Alien in 1999. In 2002, Cera played the young Chuck Barris in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and he also provided the voice for Brother Bear in The Berenstain Bears animated series. Also in 2002, he was cast in The Grubbs, a new Fox TV series. It received a poor critical response, including an E! Online review that called it "the worst sitcom ever produced".[10] He also voiced Josh Spitz in the cartoon Braceface. He played George Michael Bluth in the award-winning television series Arrested Development for three seasons before it was canceled.[11] In 2005, he starred as Harold in the award winning short film Darling Darling, for which he was awarded Best Actor at the San Gio Festival in Verona, Italy. In 2006, he created and starred in a parody of Impossible is Nothing, a video résumé created by Aleksey Vayner.[12] He also guest-starred in an episode of teen noir drama Veronica Mars – in the episode "The Rapes of Graff", which also featured Arrested Development co-star Alia Shawkat – and also in the Adult Swim series Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
Cera, along with best friend Clark Duke, wrote and starred in a series of short videos released on their website.[11] The idea came from Duke, who was enrolled at Loyola Marymount University and did it for his film school studies.[13] In 2007, they signed a deal with CBS Television to write, produce, direct, and act in a short-form comedy series entitled Clark and Michael.[14] The show featured guest stars such as David Cross, Andy Richter and Patton Oswalt, and was distributed via CBS's new internet channel, CBS Innertube.[15] Duke and Cera are both members of the band The Long Goodbye.
Cera also appeared in a staged comedy video that shows him being fired from the lead role of the film Knocked Up after belittling and arguing with the director, in a scene that mocks the David O. Russell blow up on the set of I Heart Huckabees.[11]
Continuation into movies
Cera starred alongside Jonah Hill in the film Superbad, which was written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. The film opened in North America on August 17, 2007. In November 2007, he hosted Saturday Night Live on strike, a live staged version of SNL not shown on television due to the 2007 Writers Guild of America Strike.[16] Also in 2007, Cera co-starred in Juno as Paulie Bleeker, a teenager who accidentally impregnates his long-time school-friend Juno (Ellen Page). Arrested Development star Jason Bateman co-starred in the movie, but they did not share any scenes together. For Superbad and Juno, Cera won Breakthrough Artist in the Austin Film Critics Association Awards 2007.
In 2007, Cera appeared in the comedy short "Drunk History", playing Alexander Hamilton in a comedic retelling of Hamilton's duel with Aaron Burr.[17]
Cera stars in the independent film Paper Heart, released August 7, 2009.[18] It was written by and co-stars Charlyne Yi, and premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival where it won a screenwriting award. Cera and Yi composed the movie's soundtrack. He also starred alongside Jack Black in the 2009 comedy Year One, which received overwhelmingly negative reviews.
In 2009, Cera's first published short story, "Pinecone", appeared in McSweeney's Quarterly. In January 2010, Cera starred in a film adaptation of the novel Youth in Revolt, in the role of the lead character, Nick Twisp.[11][19]
On the August 3, 2010 episode of The Late Show with David Letterman, Cera described getting lost in Red Rocks Park, and his relief when found by other hikers.[20]
Cera dressed as Captain America, in promotion of Scott Pilgrim, and parody of Captain America: The First Avenger, at the 2010 San Diego Comic Con
Cera played the titular character in the film adaptation of the graphic novel Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, released in August 2010.[21]
Upcoming projects
According to press reports, Cera will appear in the Arrested Development film.[22]
Sherwood Schwartz is on the record as saying he would like to see Cera play Gilligan in the film remake of Gilligan's Island.[23]
Cera was being considered for the voice of the new Muppet, Walter, for The Muppets, but the role was given to muppeteer Peter Linz.[24] Cera is set to star in a film by Sebastian Silva in Chile, and he is “spending five hours a day learning Spanish," for the role.[25]
Music
In 2010 Cera contributed mandolin and backing vocals to the Weezer song "Hang On" from their album Hurley.[26] Cera has also established himself as the touring bass player in Mister Heavenly, an indie rock band originating in the American northwest.[27] Cera also played bass and sang back up during songs in both Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist.
Filmography
Film
Year Title Role Notes 1999 Switching Goals Taylor TV What Katy Did Dorry TV 2000 Frequency Gordy Jr., Age 10 Steal This Movie! America Hoffman, Age 7–8 Ultimate G's: Zac's Flying Dream Young Zac Custody of the Heart TV 2001 Stolen Miracle Brandon McKinley My Louisiana Sky Jesse Wade Thompson The Familiar Stranger Young Ted Welsh TV Walter and Henry Crying Kid TV 2002 Confessions of a Dangerous Mind Chuck Barris, Age 8 and 11 2007 Superbad Evan Wayside: The Movie Todd Juno Paulie Bleeker 2008 Extreme Movie Fred Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Nick O'Leary 2009 Paper Heart Himself Year One Oh 2010 Youth in Revolt Nick Twisp / François Dillinger Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Scott Pilgrim Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated—IGN Movie Award for Best Ensemble Cast[28]
Nominated—Detroid Film Critics Society Award for Best Ensemble2012 Arrested Development George-Michael Bluth Announced 2013 Magic, Magic Pre-production Television
Year Title Role Notes 1999 I Was a Sixth Grade Alien Larrabe Hicks Series regular 1998–2001 Rolie Polie Olie Little Gizmo Four Episodes, voice only 2000 La Femme Nikita Jerome Season four, one episode 2001–2003 The Berenstain Bears Brother Bear Series regular, voice only 2001–2005 Braceface Josh Spitz Series regular, voice only 2003–2006 Arrested Development George Michael Bluth Series regular 2005–2007 Wayside Todd (Pilot) Pilot, voice only 2006 Veronica Mars Dean Rudolph The Rapes of Graff, Guest Spot 2007 Clark and Michael Mikey Cera Series regular 2007 Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Jaime Stevens Season One, Episode Three 2008, 2010-present Children's Hospital Sal Viscuso Recurring, voice only 2010 Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation Scott Pilgrim Promo for the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World 2012 Arrested Development George Michael Bluth Announced See also
References
- ^ Schneller, Johanna (2007-12-29). "Triple threat". The Globe and Mail. pp. R1–3.
- ^ a b c Leszcz, Benjamin (2006-01-04). "The essence of adolescence". National Post. http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=c6abbc16-63ed-4ada-bed8-20893c3e832e. Retrieved 2007-08-20.
- ^ Howell, Peter (2008-09-07). "Fame has strange surprises for Michael Cera". Toronto: thestar.com. http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/FilmFest/article/492153. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
- ^ Rhodes, Joe (2007-08-15). "'Superbad' – but in a good way". Springfield State Journal Register. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20070927001207/http://www.sj-r.com/Entertainment/stories/14299.asp. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
- ^ Biography Today. Detroit, Michigan: Omnigraphics. 2009. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-7808-1051-8.
- ^ a b "Biography Today", pp.20
- ^ a b Strauss, Bob (2007-12-08). "Hollywood heavy still a Brampton beanpole". The Globe and Mail. p. R1.
- ^ Leszcz, Benjamin (August 2007). "Que Sera Cera". Toronto Life. http://www.torontolife.com/features/que-sera-cera/. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
- ^ a b Jones, Chris (July 2009), "Michael Cera". Esquire. 152 (1):86–88
- ^ "Biography Today", pp.21–23
- ^ a b c d Male, Andrew (2007-09-15). "Sardonic youth". London: Guardian Unlimited. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2007/sep/15/1. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
- ^ “” (2006-12-20). "Youtube ''Impossible is the Opposite of Possible''". Youtube.com. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAV0sxwx9rY. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
- ^ "Biography Today", pp.24
- ^ "Clark and Michael website". Clarkandmichael.com. http://www.clarkandmichael.com/. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
- ^ "Wired ''Sitcom to Bitcom''". Wired.com. 2009-01-04. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.03/snackfilmtv.html. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
- ^ Strauss, Bob (2007-12-08). "Hollywood heavy still a Brampton beanpole". The Globe and Mail. p. R1.
- ^ "UCBcomedy.com". UCBcomedy.com. http://www.ucbcomedy.com/videos/play/653. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
- ^ Paper Heart (2009)
- ^ Dimension Films (2007-08-15). "Michael Cera Is Nick Twisp". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. http://web.archive.org/web/20070930181328/http://www.movieweb.com/news/91/21991.php. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
- ^ "Cera's brush with death". http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2010/08/michael_ceras_twenty-minute-lo.php. Retrieved August 7, 2010.
- ^ "Here's what happens". Bryan Lee O' Malley. http://destroyerzooey.livejournal.com/168823.html. Retrieved April 4, 2008.
- ^ Dos Santos, Kristin (2009-02-24). "Sources: Michael Cera Joins Arrested Development Movie". E! Online – Watch with Kristin. http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b101449_sources_michael_cera_joins_arrested.html. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
- ^ "Gilligan’s Island: TV Show Creator wants Michael Cera and Beyonce for New Movie". TV Series Finale. 2009-01-02. http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/gilligans-island-tv-show-creator-wants-michael-cera-and-beyonce-for-new-movie/. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
- ^ Michael Cera, Alan Arkin Offered The Muppets", NewsInFilm.com. November 1, 2010.
- ^ Hernandez, Lee (2011-02-11). ""Juno" Star Michael Cera Takes Up Spanish as a Second Language". Latina magazine. http://www.latina.com/entertainment/movies/juno-star-michael-cera-takes-spanish-second-language. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
- ^ Dorof, Jakob. "Weezer – Hurley". Slantmagazine. http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/weezer-hurley/2247. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
- ^ December 2, 2010 12:40 a.m. by Erik Ziedses des Plantes (2010-11-30). "Michael Cera Is Apparently Mister Heavenly's Bassist". Prefixmag.com. http://www.prefixmag.com/news/michael-cera-is-apparently-mister-heavenlys-bassis/46626/. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
- ^ "2010 IGN Award for Best Ensemble Cast". IGN. http://uk.movies.ign.com/summer-awards/2010/best-ensemble-cast.html. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
External links
Categories:- 1988 births
- Canadian child actors
- Canadian expatriate actors in the United States
- Canadian film actors
- Canadian people of Sicilian descent
- Canadian television actors
- Living people
- People from Brampton
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