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Michael Cera Is the Odd Man Out Who’s Always In
The actor was made for the Wes Anderson cinematic universe. Finally, he joins it in The Phoenician Scheme.
Greta Gerwig used this to great effect, casting Cera as odd-doll-out Allan on her beach of Kens in 2023’s Barbie, and it works all too well in the stylized hyperartifice of Anderson’s nostalgic, imagined worlds, which would fall apart like paper dollhouses if not for the grounded core of his players. “I didn’t know if I’d have opportunities to keep working in the States or if I would ever get a shot like that again.” When he was 18, Superbad came along, “a miracle of timing of being the right age for that part and with that group.” He recalls the “drinking-themed” last day on set with his co-star Martha MacIsaac and director Greg Mottola: “We were drinking cheap, orange-flavored vodka at eight in the morning, and everybody kind of joined us.” His ability to go a little blank and unreadable in the eyes, a little stiff in the posture, makes his moments of surprise all the funnier — whether he’s walking into an airplane cabin with a Looney Tunes –size bundle of TNT, getting drunk off two beers, or describing his first experience in a brothel (said in a Muppet-y accent: “It left me cold”).
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