Unless you happen to be a diehard
fan of the Fox Network’s best kept secret comedy show, Arrested Development,
or have a weird trope for watching vintage Canadian kiddy TV, you probably never
heard of the Brampton, Ontario born Michael Cera until a certain astonishingly
sweet scene popped at the very end of the Judd Apatow produced box office
busting teen comedy, Superbad.
For the previous hour and three
quarters the kids, Evan (Cera) and Seth (Jonah Hill) have been on a maniacal
mission to score booze for a party where they hope to make it with beautiful
girls before heading off for college. After a surreal series of misadventures
including a scene where Seth carries his unconscious buddy, Evan, out of
danger, the two exhausted pals wind up in adjoining sleeping bags when,
inhibitions erased by liquor, hormones and sheer exhaustion they suddenly
express feelings for each other that they had been too embarrassed to cop to.
“I can’t believe you saved me! I
love you. I love you, man!”
“I love you. I love you. I’m not
even embarrassed to say it. I love you.”
“I’m not embarrassed. Why don’t we
say that every day?”
“I just love you. I just want to go
on the rooftops and scream it – my best friend, Evan.”
“It’s the most beautiful thing in
the world.”
The scene (penned by Seth Rogen and
his childhood buddy Evan Goldberg) ends with manly hugging and even some
affectionate kissing.
In town to promote his wildly
funny, Berkeley based new film, based on C.D. Payne’s novel Youth in Revolt,
I asked the curly-haired, soft-spoken Cera about the sweetness of the scene
that is another planet from what gay people have come to expect from a
mainstream teen comedy -- a kind of straight guy love scene without any false
notes. Cera, who, at twenty-one, is currently the king of sensitive adolescent
comedy, explained the motivations behind the scene.
“Well, they’re drunk and their tenderness
for each other comes out. We were just trying to make it funny. The whole movie
is a film about friendship and they’re both so afraid to go off to college
without each other.”
In Youth in Revolt, the
exceedingly boyish Cera – who possesses a trace of the Rory Culkin perpetually
delayed onset of obvious puberty gene -- is fourteen-year-old Nick Twisp who as
he expresses on the very first page of the novel, is both sex obsessed and
extremely insecure about his name. “Even John Wayne on a horse would look
effeminate pronouncing that name. As soon as I turn twenty-one I’m going to
jettison it for something a bit more macho. Right now, I’m leaning towards Dillinger.”
It’s to the credit of Cera’s
nuanced comic mojo and the capable direction of Miguel Arteta, that Youth in
Revolt plays like a pungent, anxiety filled satire on growing up horny in
mid nineties Berkley, feeling that the stork definitely dropped you off with
the wrong family. Cera -- who says he lobbied to play Nick Twist since first
reading the novel and receiving an earlier script five years ago – describes
his impression of the movies’ Nick.
“We meet this kid who’s stuck with
this mother, step-father and father that he really can’t relate to (‘God’s
perfect asshole!’) Yeah, he’s writing in his journals because that’s really the
only sense of empowerment he can find with these people. And he meets this
girl, which is the only indication of there being hope in the world and he
hangs on to it for dear life.”
I quizzed Cera about whether Nick’s
obsession with making it with his dream girl, the elusive Sheeni Saunders
(Portia Doubleday) was in some way delusional or is it part fantasy, part wish
fulfillment? Is she really into him as much as he’d like her to be?
“I think she’s driving that, making
him delusional by intention. She kind of sees something in Nick, too, but isn’t
as sure that he’s her way out of that world.”
I noted that the Twisp and Saunders
clans are like an updated version of Kaufman and Hart families – You Can’t Take
it With You Families – these shambling disaster families, the kind you can
only love if you’re from them, once you’ve gotten away from them.
“Yeah, it’s tough to love them
while you’re stuck with them.”
At one point in the film, Nick the
rebel does a very illegal thing with an automobile that produces an explosion –
the film’s lone special effect – that’s suppose to take place in downtown
Berkeley. At the press screening there were howls from Bay Area critics about
this obviously faux screen stand-in.
“That was Ann Arbor doubling for Berkeley.
I assume it looks nothing like Berkeley. This is probably the one place where
that will not work.”
After seeing his book optioned for
the screen and a flurry of un-produced draft scripts, novelist C.D. Payne is
pleased as punch with what he regards as a very faithful take on his naughty
Nicky.
“When this book was first optioned
for films Michael was in the first grade. It was one of those books that had
some near misses along the way, it took pretty much forever.”
Payne admits that Nick rescued him
from a life of ad man banality.
“Nick comes from my well repressed
rebellious side. After many years of a conventional career in advertising, I
just decided to go in another direction. I found this character who would
revolt and I just followed him along. He pretty much came to life on the page
and it was fun watching him do his thing.”
Young Cera is pleased that did his
own stunt work, such as it was. “There’s some stuff where I’m being dragged by
a car, that’s about it – and there’s a scene where I’m running down the hall,
with a dog in my arms, and I slipped on those tiles, I was so afraid, while we
were shooting that sequence that I’d slip and crush this little dog, but I
ended up not doing that, but it felt dangerous.”
My conversation with Michael Cera
and novelist C.D. Payne took place one afternoon in a huge empty ballroom of a
downtown San Francisco hotel.
Lamble: How did you land the role of Nick Twisp?
Michael Cera: I was lobbying really hard for it. I’m
a huge fan of the book. It’s a huge book, five hundred pages, and worth
reading. I got it when I was sixteen, the book, and I was just really obsessed
with being a part of the movie, if possible, so I was, basically, just trying
as hard as I could for a couple of years.
Lamble: Isn’t amazing why you can take something from
your own fantasy life and insert yourself in it.
Cera: Yeah, it was really nice to be able to be a
part of it.
Lamble: Now in the book it’s in the first person and
it feels like Nick is really talking to us…
Cera: It’s his journals…
Lamble: It really feels very direct. And you have a
good talent for a kind of direct address, not exactly breaking the fourth wall
but a really good technique.
Cera: I don’t know what you mean.
Lamble: You feel it’s in the first person in the film
sense.
Cera: Well, in the movie I narrate. I thought it was
necessary to tell his story since it’s written as his journals.
Lamble: That was really fun because it makes the
comedy work so well – you have a great knack for comedy – as we already know --
there’s a lot of outrageous comedy including a car that winds up in somebody’s
living room. Where was it shot? There are a couple of shots where there were
howls from press people where something happened in Berkeley that didn’t look
like Berkeley.
Cera: That makes sense. That was Ann Arbor doubling
for Berkeley. I assume it looks nothing like Berkeley. This is probably the one
place where that will not work.
Lamble: I said it was far North Berkeley.
Cera: (chuckles) That’s generous of you. We found
that was the only hill in all of Michigan. All the movie was in Michigan.
Lamble: It’s a fast paced move, was it fast paced to
shoot?
Cera: We shot in two months, I think that’s kind of
average.
Lamble: That’s more leisurely than some of independent
films where you have to finish in three weeks.
Cera: Yeah, we had a little bit of room to breathe.
Lamble: Describe who Nick is – what your take on Nick
is?
Cera: That’s challenging.
Lamble: He has some Holden Caulfield qualities to him
– he’s a rebel but what kind of a rebel?
Cera: I’ll describe Nick in the movie, so I don’t
describe Nick in the book and get it wrong. In the movie we meet this kid who’s
stuck with this mother, step-father and father that he really can’t relate to…
Lamble: “God’s perfect asshole!”
Cera: Right, -- which is straight from the book.
Yeah, he’s writing in his journals because that’s really the only sense of
empowerment he can find with these people. And he meets this girl, which is the
only indication of there being hope in the world and he hangs on to it for dear
life.
Lamble: Do you think he is delusional about that
relationship, or is it part fantasy, part wish fulfillment? Is she really into
him as much as he’d like her to be?
Cera: I think she’s driving that, making him
delusional by intention. It seems like Sheeni – we get to know her in the movie
– and at first she seems like this kind of slippery, you know, sort of ideal
figure that he won’t ever be able to obtain, then you get to know her a bit –
she describes her home life -- and you kind of see that she’s in very
similar circumstances. She kind of sees something in Nick, too, but isn’t as
sure that he’s her way out of that world.
Lamble: They both come from families that, in another
generation, you might describe as Kaufman and Hart kind of families – You
Can’t Take it With You Families – these shambling disaster families, the
kind you can only love if you’re from them, once you’ve gotten away from them.
Cera: Yeah, it’s tough to love them while you’re
stuck with them – she just seems to want to keep Nick around just in case he
ends up being her ticket out.
Lamble: There’s some physical stuff in the movie,
too, you do your own stunts…
Cera: I don’t know what you mean by stunts.
Lamble: Well, the thing with the car…
Cera: Taking my shirt off is not considered a stunt.
Lamble: There’s some stuff that happens.
Cera: There’s some stuff where I’m being dragged by a
car, that’s about it.
Lamble: You did that.
Cera: I did it – and there’s a scene where I’m
running down the hall, with a dog in my arms, and I slipped on those tiles, I
was so afraid, while we were shooting that sequence that I’d slip and crush
this little dog, but I ended up not doing that, but it felt dangerous.
Lamble: You’ve being doing comedy for quite some time,
did you get started in Canadian television?
Cera: I started on a TV show, which was a kids show,
when I was ten or eleven.
Lamble: How does that happen?
Cera: I was auditioning at that point quite a bit, I
had just got into acting and having a fun time of it. I got this part – I guess
it was my biggest part up to that point – it was a show we did for two seasons
with a bunch of other kids, it was a really fun job.
Lamble: You have a nice, seamless quality, you’re
part of a generation of young actors coming up, we never catch you acting. You
have an especially nice touch for comedy – I was watching some of the episodes
of Arrested Development with Jason Bateman as your father – I loved it
because it seemed so underplayed, the humor really came out.
Cera: Thank you. Those were really well written shows,
it was nice to have the opportunity to do them.
Lamble: What do you see in a script? You look at a
lot of scripts, what do you see that you like, that commands your attention?
Cera: You know, normally, it’s kind of like you read
a script and, around the tenth page, something will happen where you’ll go,
‘Oh!’ – if you can get through a whole script without that happening you know
it’s good. And also you have to believe in the people making it. It’s very easy
to screw up a good script, it has to be in the right hands.
Lamble: Do you see comedy in a script – I know that
might be hard for some people to read -- the comic implication of something?
Cera: Yeah, I think you can. Funny is funny.
Lamble: Did you see (Youth in Revolt) in
script form in addition to reading the book?
Cera: I saw a very different draft about five years
ago and they sent the book along with it – it was a very different script at
that point.
Lamble: And then it went away and you thought, ‘I’ll
never see this again.’
Cera: It went away – it took a long time to get
going.
Lamble: (turning to C.D. Payne) Mr. author talk a
little about how it comes about.
Payne: Well, I could mention that when this book was first
optioned for films Michael was in the first grade. That was quite a while ago.
So, it was one of those books that had some near misses along the way but it
took pretty much forever.
Lamble: It’s a big book and it’s a page turner, but
it’s a 500 page book.
Payne: A lot of people said you couldn’t condense 500 pages
down to 90 minutes but I think they’ve done a great job.
Lamble: I ask you both this – what is the essence in
a 90 minute movies that stays in from a 500 page book. Just skimming through
it, there’s a lot of stuff that stays in.
Payne: Well, I think as the script evolved, I think they
tended to go back to the book, I think the original script had strayed fairly
far from the book and then they went back and took some incidents from the
book. I think they got closer to the characters in the novel by doing that.
Lamble: You’re from the Bay Area, right?
Cera: Right, I’ve lived in the Bay Area since
sometime in the early seventies.
Lamble: What did you think about that Berkeley scene
that’s shot in Ann Arbor?
Payne: Well, Ann Arbor is the Berkeley of the mid-west.
Lamble: Sociologically it’s right on the nose.
Payne: I thought it was pretty good – obviously there
weren’t too many palm trees and it was pretty green for summer, but I thought
it worked.
Lamble: What is your inspiration for Nick Twisp?
Payne: Nick comes from my well repressed rebellious side.
After many years of a conventional career in advertising, I just decided to go
in another direction. I found this character who would revolt and I just
followed him along. He pretty much came to life on the page and it was fun
watching him do his thing.
Lamble: (to Michael Cera) You’re obviously thrilled
to be in this, it’s one of those nice moments – what’s the best part of
shooting a film like this for you?
Cera: I had a great time with (director) Miguel (Arteta).
Lamble: Did you ever see Chuck and Buck?
Cera: Yeah, I love his movies. He’s extremely
collaborative. He makes it really fun. It feels like you’re really making a
film.
Lamble: He has the ability to shoot really intimate
stuff, to capture the small moments.
Cera: Yeah, his work with actors is really great and
he’s really sensitive about maintaining intimacy in those moments.
Lamble: Also you get to work with great characters
actors like Steve Buscemi as your estranged father.
Cera: Yeah.
Lamble: He’s somebody to study in terms of comic
stuff.
Cera: Definitely.
Lamble: What do you pick up from a veteran actor like
Steve?
Cera: Oh, I don’t know – I just tried to stay out of
the way and watch him as much as I could. He only shot for a week, the first
week, You know, he did it differently every time, so I think, don’t get set in
any thing, what I learned from him, just kind of do what feels right.
Lamble: And you just seem to have encapsulated the
notion: never play it like it’s funny. Comedy is best played when it’s
considered a real moment.
Cera: Yeah, well I think that’s a testament to the
directing because it can be directed fairly violently in a different direction
sometimes. And Miguel is really concerned with keeping it small and
underplaying it, I think.
Lamble: On Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist you
played that Nick with a wonderfully grownup quality, almost like a middle-aged
kid. Were you aware of that at the time?
Cera: I never thought of that – it’s an interesting
point.
Lamble: You make these ironic observations, almost
like you were writing for The New Yorker, while living this experience.
Cera: Yeah, well that came from a book as well, that
movie, it was a character trait that was taken right from the book.
Lamble: The scenes in the Yugo, which is a very
obscure Yugoslavian car, which is mistaken for a taxi by a lot of people.
Cera: I had to learn how to drive stick in that car,
in New York, Manhattan, it was one of the most terrifying experiences of my
life.
Lamble: You’ve specialized mostly in comedy. Has that
been a conscious choice?
Cera: It’s kind of how things have happened. I lucked
out with Arrested Development and I think that sort of propelled me in
that direction, sort of.
Lamble: Talk about joining the world of Judd Apatow (Superbad)
–that’s where a lot of us discovered you.
Cera: Well, that was another part I was just lucky to
get, I auditioned about ten times for it. I had a lot of fun with those guys in
the audition, it felt like we all had the same sensibility and they cast me in
it. It was an exciting movie to be a part of.
Lamble: I’m writing this for a gay newspaper and
there’s scene towards the end of that movie where you and your friend (played
by Jonah Hill) bond
and it’s a very sweet scene, and a lot of gay people don’t
often see that kind of sweetness in a mainstream movie – it kind of sneaks up
on us. It’s a kind of straight guy love scene without making any false notes
about it.
Cera: Yeah, well, they’re drunk and their tenderness
for each other comes out.
Lamble: When you shot that what were you thinking or
feeling?
Cera: We were just trying to make it funny, that was
the attitude.
Lamble: Well it manages to become sweet at the same
time.
Cera: Well, the whole movie is a film about
friendship and they’re both so afraid to go off to college without each other.
Lamble: You’re starting to develop a core of gay fans
in part in thanks to that – we don’t see that often in mainstream movies.
Cera: Yeah, well it was written in the script like
that, that’s a big scene in the movie.