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

Michael Austin Cera (pronounced /ˈsɛrə/; born June 7, 1988)^[1] is a Canadian actor best known for his roles in Arrested Development, Superbad, Juno, and Year One. Cera received two Canadian Comedy Award Best Actor nominations in 2008 for his work in Juno and Superbad, winning for Superbad.

[edit] Early life and education

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 Italy.^[2][3][4] Cera has an older sister, Jordan, and a younger sister, Molly.^[4] 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][5] His first role was an unpaid appearance in a Tim Hortons summer camp commercial.^[2][5][6] That eventually led to a Pillsbury commercial in which he poked the Pillsbury Doughboy, his first role with lines.^[7]

[edit] Career

[edit] Rise

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 he also 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 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 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 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.^[8]

[edit] 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, with Cera playing a character named Evan. 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.^[12] Also in 2007, Cera co-starred in Juno as Paulie Bleeker, a teenager who unexpectedly impregnates his long-time schoolfriend Juno (Ellen Page). Arrested Development star Jason Bateman co-starred in the movie, but they didn't 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.^[13]

Cera stars in the independent film Paper Heart, released August 7, 2009.^[14] 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.

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

[edit] Future

Cera will next star in a film adaptation of the novel Youth in Revolt, in the role of the lead character, Nick Twisp.^[8][15] He will also play the titular character in graphic novel adaptation Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.^[16] According to press reports, Cera will appear in the Arrested Development film.^[17]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Film

[edit] Television

[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

[edit] External links

• Michael Cera at the Internet Movie Database
• Clark and Michael official site