Michael Cera

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Michael Cera

Michael Cera, 2007
Born Michael Austin Cera
June 7, 1988 (1988-06-07) (age 20)
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Years active 1998–present

Michael Austin Cera (pronounced /ˈsɛrə/; born June 7, 1988)[1] is a Canadian television and film actor, best known for playing George Michael Bluth in Arrested Development, Evan in Superbad and Paulie Bleeker in Juno.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Personal life

Michael, the middle child of three siblings, was born in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. He is the son of Linda and Luigi Cera, a Xerox technician who is originally from Sicily.[2][3] Cera has an older and a younger sister.[3] He attended Conestoga Public School and then Heart Lake Secondary School for grade nine, but then completed high school through correspondence.[2] His first role was an unpaid appearance in a Tim Hortons Summer Camp commercial.[2][4][5]

[edit] Career

Cera played the young Chuck Barris in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind in 2002 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.[6] 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 late 2006, he created and starred in a parody of Impossible is Nothing, a video résumé created by Aleksey Vayner.[7] 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 Clark Duke, wrote and starred in a series of short videos released on their website.[6] 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.[8] The show featured guest stars such as David Cross, Andy Richter and Patton Oswalt, and was distributed via CBS's new internet channel, Innertube.[9] Duke and Cera are also in a band together, 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.[6] 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 TV due to the 2007 Writers Guild of America Strike.[10] Also in the same year, 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.[11] Cera will next star in film adaptations of the novels Youth in Revolt (playing lead character Nick Twisp)[12][6] and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, opposite Kat Dennings.[13] He will also appear as the titular character in graphic novel adaptation Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.[14]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Film

Year Title Role Notes
2000 Frequency Gordy Jr., Age 10
Steal This Movie! America Hoffman, Age 7-8
2001 My Louisiana Sky Jesse Wade Thompson
2002 Confessions of a Dangerous Mind Chuck Barris, Age 8 and 11
2005 Darling Darling Harold
2007 Superbad Evan
Juno Paulie Bleeker
2008 Parental Guidance Suggested Fred
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Nick O'Leary post-production
Youth in Revolt Nick Twisp pre-production
2009 The Year One O post-production
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Scott Pilgrim announced
Arrested Development George Michael Bluth announced

[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

[edit] References

  1. ^ Schneller, Johanna. "Triple threat", The Globe and Mail, 2007-12-29, pp. R1–3. 
  2. ^ a b c Leszcz, Benjamin. "The essence of adolescence", National Post, 2006-01-04. Retrieved on 2007-08-20. 
  3. ^ a b Rhodes, Joe. "'Superbad' – but in a good way", Springfield State Journal Register, 2007-08-15. Retrieved on 2007-08-18. 
  4. ^ Leszcz, Benjamin (August 2007). Que Sera Cera. Toronto Life. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
  5. ^ Strauss, Bob. "Hollywood heavy still a Brampton beanpole", The Globe and Mail, 2007-12-08, p. R1. 
  6. ^ a b c d Male, Andrew. "Sardonic youth", Guardian Unlimited, 2007-09-15. Retrieved on 2007-09-15. 
  7. ^ [1] Youtube Impossible is the Opposite of Possible
  8. ^ [2]Clark and Michael website
  9. ^ [3] Wired Sitcom to Bitcom
  10. ^ Strauss, Bob. "Hollywood heavy still a Brampton beanpole", The Globe and Mail, 2007-12-08, p. R1. 
  11. ^ [4]UCBcomedy.com
  12. ^ Dimension Films. "Michael Cera Is Nick Twisp", MovieWeb, 2007-08-15. Retrieved on 2007-08-19. 
  13. ^ "Michael Cera Creates an Infinite Playlist", MovieWeb, 2007-10-08. Retrieved on 2007-10-11. 
  14. ^ "Here's what happens". Bryan Lee O' Malley. Retrieved on April 4, 2008.

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Cera, Michael Austin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION actor
DATE OF BIRTH January 7, 1988
PLACE OF BIRTH Brampton, Ontario, Canada
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH