MICH AEL CERA

Michael Cera, Hollywood’s Most Normal Boy Next Door MR. NICE GUY FILM INTERVIEW

BY B. LOVE F ROM EDWARD FURLONG AND Corey Feldman to Britney Spears and Li ndsay Lohan, history is littered with cautionary tales about the inherent dangers of becoming famous too young in life. For every Jodie Foster, who earned her first Osc ar nomination at the age of 14 and went on to become one of the most successful leading ladies in Hollywood history, there have been hundreds of young actors and singers who either burned out in a fiery blaze of tabloid glory or simply faded into obscurity (see: Mc Cauley Culkin, Haley Joel Osment) before they were even old enough to drink. Then there’s Mi chael Cera. Born in the suburban On tario city of Brampton in 1988 to an Italian father and a French Canadian mother, Cera appeared in films such as Frequency and Confessions of A Da ngerous Mi nd before finding fame at the age of 15 as the star of the cult TV comedy Ar rested De velopment. In 2007 he had back-to-back breakthrough roles in Juno and Superbad (which together grossed over $250 million). No w, the 20-year-old recently ranked #1 on Entertainment We ekly’s “30 Under 30” list is headlining this month’s Youth In Re volt, one of several films that promise to make him an even bigger star in 2009. But what seems even more remarkable than Cera’s considerable successes (including his last film, Ni ck and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, which grossed nearly four times its $9 million budget) is the fact that he seems completely oblivious to it. He arrives bright and early for our interview looking closer to his Youth In Re volt character Ni ck Twisp’s age (14 in the C.D. Payne novel on which the film is based) than his own, clad in the outfit which he has helped to make something of a slacker teen trademark: hooded sweatshirt, tight jeans, well-worn sneakers and a bright red backpack that makes him look more like a high school student than a bona-fide star who earns mill ions of dollars per movie. He is unfailingly polite, aski ng for permission to fix himself a cup of coffee (a job usually handled by fawning publicists) before sitting down, then apologizing for delaying our interview by what may have been a minute or two at most. Though clearly thoughtful and intell igent, his answers come in halted fits and starts, punctuated by pregnant pauses and his favorite word, “nice,” which he uses no less than a dozen times over the course of our conversation. Wi th Cera, what you see truly seems to be what you get, as the actor has a shy, awkward, mildly uncomfortable demeanor much like that of the characters in which he has specialized. “[Emotional discomfort] is my favorite thing,” he admits with a sheepish grin. “I alw ays end up in situations where I don’t know too many people. I’m not very social, so I feel extremely uncomfortable. But there’s some secret pleasure I take in things going horribly wrong.” It’s a pleasure he has embraced since the onset of puberty, when he and a friend– inspired by the irreverent comedy of Tom Gr een and HBO’s sketch comedy series Mr. Show– decided that making themselves laugh was far more important than trying to be cool or fit in. In 7th grade the actor (who was appearing in local commercials at the time) started wearing a pink bicycle helmet to school, adopting a fake persona to interv iew classmates. “We didn’t care if people thought we were They’ll tell me they like my work or someone will shout something out, but it’s always very pleasant. I dunno, do people really change because of fame?” he asks earnestly. “I’ve never met someone who has, so I think that was bound to happen to that person no matt er what they did in their life.” Perhaps Cera’s comfort with his newfound celebrity comes from the fact that all of his previous projects have been centered around collaborative ensembles, rather than star vehicles that put all of the focus on one or two central characters. The improvisation

[EMOTIONAL DISCOMFORT] IS MY FAVORITE THING. I ALW AYS END UP IN SITUATIONS WHERE I DON’T KNOW TOO MANY PEOPLE . I’M NOT VERY SOCIAL, SO I FEEL EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE. BUT THERE’S SOME SECRET

PLEASURE I TAKE IN THINGS GOING HORRIBLY WRONG.

losers,” he recalls fondly. “I was excited about people thinking I was an idiot.” This affinity for awkwardness served him extremely well in his Ar rested Development role as Ge orge-Michael Bluth, an uncomfortable teen with an inappropriate crush on his cousin Ma eby; as Paulie Bleeker, a shortshorts-clad geek who unwittingly fathers an illegitimate child in Juno; as Evan, a horny high school senior trying to score with gorg eous girls way out of his league in Superb ad; and as Ni ck, a lovelorn musician pining for his unattainable ex-girlfriend in Ni ck and No rah’s Infinite Playlist. But surprisingly enough, Cera claims to feel no awkwardness whatsoever with the astronomical ascent to fame these roles have brought him. “I’ve been enjoying it. I really like working and being on sets, so it’s nice to be able to continue doing that. If I get recognized in the street it’s normally just a brief exchange.

based approach of these projects allowed Cera to play a heightened version of himself, and the actor acknowle dges that it’s his favorite style of acting. “It’s fun, just having a conversation [in character], because it always feels real when you’re just talking off the top of your head. You can always create options on the set and make decisions later in the editing room, rather than having to go back and reshoot. I took some classes at Second City in Tor onto,” he recalls of his improv training. “I guess I learned something from that, but the biggest thing is to just listen. I think anyone can do it, because if you can have a convers ation you can improvise, as long as you’re not trying to be funny. That’s when you can start to trip yourself up.” In the eyes of many critics, this naturali stic approach to humor offers a refreshing change of pace from the tawdry gross-out comedies on the ‘90s and early aughts. Some

PG 27 • insiteatlanta.com • March 2009 have gone so far as to compare Superbad and Ni ck & Norah to the classic John Hughes teen films of the ‘80s, such as The Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink and Ferris Bueller’s Da y Of f. “I like anything that feels authentic and comes from someone’s heart,” Cera says when asked about the appeal of these films to his generation. “I watch a lot of movies, and I’ve never liked those gross-out come dies. Sometimes you read a script and there are things that don’t ring true, but you can work with the director and the writers on fixing it. I’ve always found that it’s best to work with people that are collaborative and open-minded. People who aren’t afraid of forfeiting control always come up with the best product.”

Wi th another ensemble cast that includes Steve Buscemi, Ra y Liotta, Justin Long and Jean Smart, Youth In Re volt seems likely to continue Cera’s string of successes, albeit the first one to feature him as the lead around which the entire story is based. The story follows Ni ck Twist, a troubled teen who falls for a gorgeous dream girl (played by newc omer Portia Do ubleday) as his trailer trash parents teeter on the brink of divorce. “It’s directed by Mi guel Arteta (Chuck & Buck, The Go od Girl), and I love the book by C.D. Payne on which it’s based. It’s about a young guy who meets a girl on a family vacation and becomes obsessed with her. I’ve read the book like five times and really love the character,” Cera says, his voice rising in a rare burst of passion, “so I was excited to do it. I think the movie will be really good.” The film is just one of four films the actor has scheduled for release in the next year or so. The Year On e, directed by Cera’s Gh ostbusters idol Harold Ra mis, finds him and Jack Black cast as lazy hunter-gatherers on an epic journey after being cast out from their primitive village. In director Edgar Wr ight’s (Shaun of the De ad, Hot Fuzz) Scott Pilgrim Vs. the Wo rld, Cera stars as a man who must vanquish his new girlfriend’s evil ex-boyfriends in order to win her heart. But the proje ct that really has fans buzzing is the recent announcement of official plans for an Ar rested Development movie, which will reportedly feature the original cast reunited for the first time since the show’s cancellation in 2006. Though the deal had not been finalized at the time of our interview, Cera seemed cautiously optimistic about returning to the quirky character that made him famous. “We had a good run. Three seasons was more than I ever expected when we started, because right off the bat we were told it wasn’t doing too good. But it’s nice to have people who really love it, and it feels like a tight-knit group of people who come up and talk about the show. I would only want to be a part of the movie if it was gonna be really good,” he insists, “because I think it’s good to go out on a high note, end with a bang and leave them wanting more. I don’t think it would be worth doing unless it would live up to the expectations that might come with it.”