Before Barbie, Michael Cera Missed Golden Opportunity to be Co-Stars With an Avengers Actor in $54M Wes Anderson Hit
Canadian actor Michael Cera has been in the Hollywood entertainment industry as a child actor when he made an unpaid appearance in a Tim Hortons summer camp commercial. That role led to him earning a role in a Pillsbury commercial in which he had lines. His next job was playing the role of Larrabe Hicks in the Canadian children’s TV show I Was a Sixth Grade Alien.
One thing led to another and now, Michael Cera is widely known for appearing as an offbeat and botched character in coming-of-age films. It would be an absolute delight to see him in a Wes Anderson film. In fact, he was in talks of starring in Anderson’s Asteroid City, released earlier this year, but unfortunately, it did not happen.
Michael Cera Missed the Golden Opportunity to Star Alongside an Avengers Star
Wes Anderson, often regarded as a modern-day auteur, is popular for his unique storytelling and visual antics, and the use of ensemble cast in his movies. His movie Asteroid City is no exception to all of these things, and while it might not be his best, his fans would surely love the movie for its metatextual plot.
In February 2021, the media outlet Discussing Film reported that Michael Cera and Jeff Goldblum were in talks about starring in Asteroid City. At the time, the movie was described as one about “a group of brainy teenagers” with the title still unrevealed. This description seemed well suited for a role for Cera, and the actor’s fans were absolutely stoked about the collaboration and were rooting for the Arrested Development star.
However, things did not seem to have worked out in favor of Cera appearing in the movie whose title was revealed to be Asteroid City by Bill Murray in October 2021. The casting for this movie was absolutely wild with the likes of Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Maya Hawke, and many others.
Cera missing the chance to star in this movie deprived him of the opportunity to have great exposure and work alongside Avengers star Scarlett Johansson, who was paid $4,131 every week for working on the movie for two months.
Michel Cera Went on to Be a Part of the Ensemble Cast of A Different Movie
Any details about why Michael Cera did not star in Asteroid City are not known. However, he almost lost the chance to become part of the ensemble cast of Barbie, one of the greatest movies of 2023 if not the greatest. Thankfully, he took action before it was too late and was cast as Allan in the movie.
During an interview with GQ, the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World star revealed how he did everything in his power to get cast in the movie after his manager gave them an uncertain answer regarding his will to perform in the film. Cera said:
“I somehow got Greta’s email address, I think through a common friend of ours, and I emailed her like, ‘Can I be in it? Can I do that part?’ And she was like, ‘Let’s get on a Zoom right now. Here’s a Zoom link, I’ll be on there for the next hour.’ So she was just hanging out on the Zoom, like, ‘Click the link whenever you’re ready.’ And then we talked about it, and it just all happened really fast from there.”
Michael Cera going the extra mile to make sure that he appears in Barbie proves that he had faith in the success of the movie. Probably more than director Greta Gerwig herself who had prepared herself for the movie to be a career-ender for her.
