Michael Cera

Michael Cera is a Canadian actor and musician born on June 7, 1988, in Brampton, Ontario. The son of Linda and Luigi Cera, a technician of Sicilian descent, Cera grew up with an older sister, Jordan, and a younger sister, Molly. His interest in acting began at age three, when repeated viewings of Ghostbusters while ill with chicken pox led him to memorize the film's dialogue and develop an admiration for Bill Murray. He later enrolled in improvisation classes at The Second City in Toronto. Cera attended Conestoga Public School, Robert H. Lagerquist Senior Public School, and Heart Lake Secondary School through grade nine, after which he completed his education online.

His professional career began with an unpaid appearance in a Tim Hortons summer camp commercial, which led to a role in a Pillsbury commercial. In 1999, he was cast as Larrabe Hicks in the Canadian children's series I Was a Sixth Grade Alien and appeared in the television films What Katy Did and Switching Goals. The following year he made his theatrical film debut in Frequency (2000), and also appeared in Steal This Movie! and Ultimate G's: Zac's Flying Dream, the latter of which gave him his first leading role, presented in IMAX theaters. From 2001 to 2004, he voiced Josh Spitz in the animated series Braceface, and in 2002 he played the young Chuck Barris in George Clooney's Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Beginning in 2003, he voiced Brother Bear in the PBS children's series The Berenstain Bears for three seasons.

Cera rose to prominence playing George Michael Bluth, the teenage son of Jason Bateman's character, in the Fox sitcom Arrested Development, which began airing in November 2003. The series ran for three seasons before Fox canceled it in 2006, and Cera reprised the role when the show returned from 2013 to 2019. Alongside his Arrested Development co-star Alia Shawkat, he guest-starred in the Veronica Mars episode "The Rapes of Graff" in 2006. That same year, he and Clark Duke signed a deal with CBS Television to create the short-form internet comedy series Clark and Michael, which featured guest appearances by David Cross, Andy Richter, and Patton Oswalt.

His film career accelerated significantly in 2007 when he starred in the Judd Apatow-produced teen comedy Superbad alongside Jonah Hill, a film that topped the US box office for two consecutive weeks upon its August release. Also in 2007, he co-starred in Juno as Paulie Bleeker opposite Elliot Page. For both films, he received the Breakthrough Artist honor from the Austin Film Critics Association and was included in Entertainment Weekly's "30 Under 30" list in February 2008. He followed those performances with the romantic comedy-drama Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008) opposite Kat Dennings, and starred in Youth in Revolt (2009), playing a teenager who creates a destructive alter ego. He also appeared in the comedy Year One (2009) alongside Jack Black, directed by Harold Ramis.

Cera starred in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World in 2010 and later took supporting roles in a range of comedies and dramas, including This Is the End (2013), Molly's Game (2017), Person to Person (2017), Gloria Bell (2019), Barbie (2023), Dream Scenario (2023), and The Phoenician Scheme (2025). He voiced Dick Grayson and Robin in The Lego Batman Movie (2017) and reprised his role as Scott Pilgrim in the Netflix animated series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (2023). He voiced Barry, a sausage, in Sausage Party (2016) and returned to the role in the Amazon Prime Video sequel series Sausage Party: Foodtopia (2024), and voiced Hank in Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (2022). He held a recurring role on the comedy series Childrens Hospital from 2008 to 2016. From 2022 to 2024, he took a leading role in the Hulu comedy series Life & Beth.

On Broadway, Cera appeared in three productions spanning 2014 to 2018, all written by Kenneth Lonergan. He starred in This Is Our Youth in 2014 and The Waverly Gallery, and also appeared in Lobby Hero in 2018. His work in Lobby Hero earned him a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play.

Beyond acting, Cera is a musician who released his debut album, True That, in 2014, and has performed as the touring bassist for the indie rock supergroup Mister Heavenly. Over the course of his career, he has received nominations for a British Academy Film Award, three Critics' Choice Movie Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to his Tony Award nomination.