Michael Cera

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Michael Cera

Michael Cera, 2007
Born Michael Austin Cera
June 7, 1988 (1988-06-07) (age 21)
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Years active 1998–present

Michael Austin Cera (pronounced /ˈsɛrə/; born June 7, 1988)[1] is a Canadian actor. His roles have included George Michael Bluth in Arrested Development, Evan in Superbad, Paulie Bleeker in Juno and Nick in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Cera received two Canadian Comedy Award Best Actor nominations in 2008 for his work in Juno and Superbad, winning for Superbad. He is often typecast as an awkward, sensitive character.[2]

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Childhood

Cera was born in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. He is the son of Linda, a native of Quebec, and Luigi Cera, a Xerox technician who is originally from Sicily.[3][4][5] Cera has an older sister, Jordan, and a younger sister, Molly.[5] He attended Conestoga Public School, Robert H. Lagerquist Senior Public School, and then Heart Lake Secondary School until grade nine, but then completed high school through correspondence.[3][6] His first role was an unpaid appearance in a Tim Hortons summer camp commercial.[3][6][7]

[edit] Career

Cera's career began when he was cast as Larrabe Hicks in the 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 provided the voice for Brother Bear in The Berenstain Bears animated series; 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 cancelled.[8] In 2005, he starred as Harold in the award winning surreal humour 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.[9] 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 Tom Goes to the Mayor and 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.[8] 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.[10] 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.[11] Duke and Cera are both members of the band The Long Goodbye.

Cera also appeared in a staged comedy video that shows Cera 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.[8] Other clips featured movie stars James Franco and Orlando Bloom in a similar situation.

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, with Cera playing a character named Evan. In November 2007, Cera 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.[12] Also in 2007, Cera co-starred in Juno (written by Diablo Cody and directed by Jason Reitman), playing Paulie Bleeker, who unexpectedly impregnates his long time teenage friend Juno (Ellen Page). Juno also starred Arrested Development co-star Jason Bateman. For Superbad and Juno, Cera won Breakthrough Artist in the Austin Film Critics Association Awards 2007.

In early 2008, Cera appeared in the comedy short "Drunk History", playing Alexander Hamilton in a comedic retelling of Hamilton's duel with Aaron Burr.[13] Cera will next star in film adaptations of the novels Youth in Revolt (in the role of the lead character, Nick Twisp).[8][14] He will also appear as the titular character in graphic novel adaptation Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.[15]

In 2009, Cera's first published short story, "Pinecone", appeared in McSweeney's Quarterly.

According to press reports, Cera will appear in the Arrested Development film.[16]

Cera stars in the independent film Paper Heart, due for release in August 2009.[17] It was written by and co-stars his girlfriend Charlyne Yi. Cera and Yi composed the music for it.

He also stars in the film Year One which opened in theaters on Friday 26th of June 2009 playing alongside Jack Black as a main character in the film.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Film

Year Title Role Notes
1999 Switching Goals Taylor
2000 Frequency Gordy Jr., Age 10
Steal This Movie! America Hoffman, Age 7-8
Ultimate G's: Zac's Flying Dream Young Zac
2001 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
Juno Paulie Bleeker
2008 Extreme Movie Fred
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Nick O'Leary
2009 Paper Heart Himself
Year One Oh
Youth in Revolt Nick Twisp post-production
2010 Arrested Development George Michael Bluth
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Scott Pilgrim

[edit] Television

Year Title Role Notes
1999 I Was A Sixth Grade Alien Larrabe Hicks Series regular
1998–2001 Rolie Polie Olie Little Gizmo Series regular, voice only
2000 La Femme Nikita Jerome Season four, One episode
2001–2002 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, 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, One Episode
2008 Children's Hospital Sal Viscuso Series regular

[edit] Awards and honors

  • 2005 Best Actor Award for the short comedy Darling, Darling at the San Gio Festival.
  • 2007 Breakthrough Artist Award from the Austin Film Critics Association.
  • 2008 Canadian Comedy Award for Best Actor - Film, for Superbad. He was also nominated for Best Actor for his role in Juno.
  • 2009 Nominated for BAFTA Rising Star Award

[edit] References

  1. ^ Schneller, Johanna (2007-12-29). "Triple threat". The Globe and Mail. pp. R1–3. 
  2. ^ http://www.themovieblog.com/2008/10/already-bored-with-michael-cera
  3. ^ a b c Leszcz, Benjamin (2006-01-04). "The essence of adolescence". National Post. http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/artslife/story.html?id=c6abbc16-63ed-4ada-bed8-20893c3e832e&p=1. Retrieved on 2007-08-20. 
  4. ^ http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/FilmFest/article/492153
  5. ^ a b Rhodes, Joe (2007-08-15). "'Superbad' – but in a good way". Springfield State Journal Register. http://www.sj-r.com/Entertainment/stories/14299.asp. Retrieved on 2007-08-18. 
  6. ^ a b Strauss, Bob (2007-12-08). "Hollywood heavy still a Brampton beanpole". The Globe and Mail. p. R1. 
  7. ^ Leszcz, Benjamin (August 2007). "Que Sera Cera". Toronto Life. http://www.torontolife.com/features/que-sera-cera/. Retrieved on 2007-12-19. 
  8. ^ a b c d Male, Andrew (2007-09-15). "Sardonic youth". Guardian Unlimited. http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,2169578,00.html. Retrieved on 2007-09-15. 
  9. ^ [1] Youtube Impossible is the Opposite of Possible
  10. ^ [2]Clark and Michael website
  11. ^ [3] Wired Sitcom to Bitcom
  12. ^ Strauss, Bob (2007-12-08). "Hollywood heavy still a Brampton beanpole". The Globe and Mail. p. R1. 
  13. ^ [4]UCBcomedy.com
  14. ^ Dimension Films (2007-08-15). "Michael Cera Is Nick Twisp". MovieWeb. http://www.movieweb.com/news/91/21991.php. Retrieved on 2007-08-19. 
  15. ^ ""Here's what happens"". Bryan Lee O' Malley. http://destroyerzooey.livejournal.com/168823.html. Retrieved on April 4 2008. 
  16. ^ 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 on 2009-02-27. 
  17. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1331064/

[edit] External links


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