Why Michael Cera Doesn't Get Many Movie Offers Anymore

By Editorial Staff in Entertainment On 7th February 2017

Here's why he don't seem onscreen as much anymore…and how he might turn it around.

He's totally been typecast

It might sound harsh, but when it comes to some of his earlier works, Michael Cera's early performances tended to blend together. From his stunted speech patterns in stress situations to his befuddled glares to his stoic approach to arguments, most of his characters have handled their screen situations basically the same way. Consider how George-Michael Bluth fumbled and bumbled whenever his cute "cousin" Maeby was in the room in Arrested Development, and then compare that reaction to his pregnant pseudo-girlfriend telling him off in Juno or his love interest Ramona revealing she had a league of evil exes standing in his way in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. They aren't all that dissimilar.

While Cera has since tried to shrug off his good-guy goober shroud with image-slaughtering performances in This Is the End and Crystal Fairy & the Magic Cactus, he's still known to most as that awkward and self-deprecating weirdo who gets the girl sometimes and under-reacts to everything.

There's also the matter of the flops

Superbad and Juno were lightning in a bottle, but Cera's had trouble striking again when it comes to selling those signature goofy screen antics to audiences. After those two films proved to be formidable hits, Cera earned top billing in a series of coulda-woulda-shoulda-been successes. But the momentum for his movies didn't hold up as well as producers probably hoped, as his films mostly fizzled out with audiences.

First, there was Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, a middling success that failed to live up to expectations despite largely positive reviews. After that, Year One tanked with reviewers and audiences alike, Paper Heart was barely seen by anyone, and Youth in Revolt barely made back its production budget, despite positive reviews and Cera's face to front the film. Perhaps the biggest blow to Cera's box-office potential was his title turn in Edgar Wright's adaptation of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, a high-profile film that was expensive to make and impressed critics with its visual dynamo…but simply failed to draw an audience.

He's also not totally unique

It may be because they have the same curly cropped locks and beady brown eyes—or that they both peaked around the same time with similar on-screen dispositions—but people seem to have trouble telling Cera and Jesse Eisenberg apart. Just as Cera was taking the lead in the lovable doof department, Eisenberg came through with his own nerdtastic hero turn in Zombieland. They aren't exactly doppelgängers, but they do each tick off a certain box on the character list.

And while Cera has struggled to shed his perceived persona, Eisenberg showed a lot more versatility, thanks in part to his Oscar-nominated run as Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network. Eisenberg has had his own career hiccups, to be sure, but he's successfully moved his image into new territories while still claiming roles that might otherwise be squarely in Cera's territory.

He also doesn't feed the tabloid machine

Scott Pilgrim co-star Aubrey Plaza dropped a doozy in 2016 when she revealed that she and Cera were in such a serious relationship with one another that they were this close to getting married. She told RuPaul's podcast (via People) that the pair dated for a year and a half and were madly in love with one another thanks to their shared sense of dry wit. "He's a very special — I mean, we love each other. We're still really good friends. He's just a weird little freak and we speak the same language. He's one of the funniest people I know."

It wasn't her characterization of her bond with Cera that raised eyebrows, but rather the fact that they were together for so long and no one knew about it. She and Cera obviously made a choice not to plaster their relationship all over social media, which meant that they also weren't grabbing the kind of headlines that might draw a gossip-fiending civilian to the ticket booth for either of their flicks.

He's not fame-hungry

As cutthroat as the film business tends to be, there are few actors who have the combination of foresight and industry gumption that it takes to really "make it" in the movie industry. In Cera's case, he's openly declared that fame is not his endgame. As detailed in his 2008 feature with The New York Times, Cera's response to being catapulted to the almost-A-list was trepidatious at best, and completely averse at worst.

"I don't really want to be famous, and I'm kind of scared that might be happening. I might really have to stop and think before I make decisions now, and see how they're going to affect my life, and see if it's what I want to be doing with my life. I guess I need to make sure that it's worth all that comes with it," he said before detailing his discomfort with crowds. And while that attitude is understandable, to be sure, it's not hard to imagine him shying away from the kind of elbow-rubbing situations that might make or break a young actor's career chances.

His music career has been steadily growing all the while

Those who did see Scott Pilgrim might've taken his rad bass skills in Sex Bob-omb for a cinematic farce, but in reality, Cera's actually a talented musician who's been making moves to get his second career going for years. He previously performed as one of the frontmen in an acoustic band called the Long Goodbye and provided some musical accompaniment to Weezer's 2010 album Hurley before releasing his own album, True That, in 2014. The following year, he teamed up with the Unicorns' Alden Penner for an EP titled Canada in Space, which the two promoted with a tour of the U.K. In addition to vocals, Cera can play the mandolin and bass.

He's also been quietly coupling his musical interests with his film work by scoring several films and shorts, including Paper Heart and his own writer-directorial short film effort, Failure.

He's turned to other avenues with mixed results

As he's shied away from the Hollywood spotlight, Cera has turned to other avenues of his craft. In 2014, he made his Broadway debut in Kenneth Lonergan's This Is Our Youth alongside Scott Pilgrim alum Kieran Culkin, and then he gave television another shot the same year with the Charlie Kaufman comedy How and Why, which failed to get picked up by the network.

He also launched a comedic YouTube channel with fellow comics Sarah Silverman, Reggie Watts, and Tim & Eric, which has since petered out, and appeared in Yahoo Screen's short-lived spoof of The Bachelor, Burning Love, which ended in 2013.

He's been heard and not seen at times

Long before he became a household name, Cera steadily booked voiceover work, taping recurring roles in children's shows like Rollie Pollie Olie and Braceface, so the fact that he's since returned to that arena isn't a surprise. What's more interesting, however, is just how much business he's doing at the mic.

In addition to voicing one of the leads in the raunchy animated hit Sausage Party, he also contributed his cords to The Lego Batman Movie (as Robin, opposite his Arrested Development uncle Will Arnett) and a cartoon comedy called Blazing Samurai. This kind of work might keep the lights on, but it's hardly likely to showcase his acting talent—since, you know, he's not actually onscreen.

There's still plenty of time for a turnaround

When it comes to Hollywood, it's never too late to make a comeback, and Cera's still well-liked and well-known enough to turn things around for himself. Looking at his list of upcoming projects, there's a definite chance he might do just that. For starters, he'll be starring in Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut Molly's Game, which co-stars a barrage of talented actors and seems to be the kind of serious mainstream drama that his filmography lacks.

He's also taken his impromptu apprenticeships with filmmakers and used that knowledge to create his own short projects, and thrown his hat in the indie ring as well by appearing in festival-friendly releases like Lemon and Person to Person to try and branch away from his comfort zone. He'll appear in the much-fussed revival of TV's Twin Peaks—which, if the anticipatory buzz is any indication, might just be the next big hit he's been working toward all along. There also remains the prospect of a fifth season of Arrested Development. It'd be a poetic case of coming full circle if the series that made him famous sparked a comeback, but if all else fails and all these projects go bust, Cera still doesn't need to worry about paying the bills. After all, there's always money in the banana stand.

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