Michael Cera and Wes Anderson Are a Match Made in Hollywood Heaven. So Why Did It Take Them So Long to Work Together?

Whether committed or casual, TV and film fans know Michael Cera. They may recognise the Canadian actor as the hapless George Michael Bluth in what is widely considered one of the greatest sitcoms of all time, Arrested Development, or from 2007 comedy hit Superbad, or 2010’s instant cult classic Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Via these iconic roles and many others, and at the young age of 36, Cera has cemented himself as one of the most accomplished comedic and dramatic actors of his generation. 

Cera’s next project is Academy Award-winning director Wes Anderson’s espionage black comedy The Phoenician Scheme. It’s a match made in Hollywood heaven that seems like it was always destined to happen: Cera’s note-perfect portrayal of awkward and endearing characters is a perfect fit for Anderson’s array of eccentric oddballs, seen in classics like The Royal Tenenbaums and The Grand Budapest Hotel. So what sparked Anderson’s first connection with Cera?

“I don’t know,” Cera tells Rolling Stone AU/NZ.

“I really don’t. But Wes and I had a general meeting together way back in, like, 2007 or 2010. We’ve been in touch since then, and actually, Wes has been very supportive over the years of different projects of mine, just as a friend, you know? Things I’ve written that he’s read and given me thoughts on and helped make connections with, so he’s just been a friend and a big support.”

Image: Michael Cera and Benicio del Toro in The Phoenician Scheme Credit: Supplied

Anderson actually wanted the Ontario-born actor to feature in 2023’s Asteroid City. The schedules didn’t align, so it was made sure they did for The Phoenician Scheme. The film follows the story of businessman and one of the wealthiest men in Europe, Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro), who appoints his daughter and nun, Liesel (Mia Threapleton), the sole heir to his estate. Cera stars as Bjorn Lund, a tutor to Korda’s children. Like most Anderson films, the cast is stacked with iconic names — Tom Hanks, Bill Murray, Bryan Cranston, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Rupert Fiend, just to name a few. Though you might assume that kind of talent makes for a chaotic set, Cera says it’s anything but.

“Everybody is there for Wes and everybody’s there to be part of this process, which is very specific, so it’s just a lot of enthusiasm from everybody,” he explains. “Wes has a whole team of people that he has assembled over his whole career that he’s curated very meticulously, so the whole operation is really handmade.

“It’s very demanding work where you do dozens of takes of a given thing to get the timing right with camera moves and with tricky dialogue and monologues, and he does like to do things like that in long, sustained takes. So it’s very focused, very gratifying.”

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And as any Anderson fan would expect given the on-screen product, how everyone works on set is just as unique. For one, no actor is given their own trailer.

“You don’t leave the sets and disband,” Cera says. “[Wes is] able to keep things very tightly focused and you do a lot more work in the course of a day. You do a lot more takes, and the camera rolls much more on his set than any other set. When he cuts, he doesn’t allow people to file in and lose tension… which is wonderful for an actor because a lot of the time on set as an actor, you’re idling and you’re losing your mind a little bit and going, ‘When can we do a take?’ It feels like Wes has that same kind of engine in him. He wants to stay on it and get as many takes as possible and keep refining it.”

When talking about Anderson, it’s clear that Cera is a lifelong fan of the filmmaker. In his own words, Anderson created “a type of humour within this medium that didn’t exist before him.” But it’s fair to say Cera has carved out a lane for himself, too. As well as Arrested Development and Superbad, there was indie hit Juno, or even his scene-stealing performance as Allan in the billion dollar box-office hit, Barbie.

But as he explains, there’s no secret to making a lasting hit.

“Coming off of Arrested Development, which was such a great opportunity getting to do that kind of writing, that put in me a great appreciation of writing and a sense of how important that is, especially if you’re trying to do something funny,” he says.

“When it came to auditioning for Superbad, I just wanted to do it more than anything. It sort of comes down to being the right age at the right time and, like, a constellation of miracles and good fortune. It was an enormous opportunity for me, that size role in that size of a production with Judd [Apatow] and Seth [Rogen] who were carving this niche for themselves and doing really good work, and I was also very excited about Jonah [Hill]. I didn’t really have a sense of the release or anything like that because we never really have had much of a sense about the business of the movie coming out and what that means when we’re making it.”

It’s not lost on Cera the impact his work has had on fans. To this day people still yell out “McLovin” to him, which he admits still confuses him [the character was played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse]. But the thought of fans looking up to him the way he does Anderson is a very sweet and scary prospect.

“I think to actually think it as a thought, it’s kind of too much of an abstraction or something,” he laughs. “Because I’m just trying to work and do what I can do and survive, so that’s kind of where my head is. I feel like those other thoughts would not really serve me too much.”

Looking ahead, Cera will reunite with Scott Pilgrim director Edgar Wright for action-thriller The Running Man, due out later this year, while he’s also looking to direct some of his own projects. But just as he’s experienced so many times in his career with the likes of Ron Howard, Apatow, and now Anderson, future work opportunities are all about the team he’s working with. “I don’t think I could resist a good opportunity, especially if it’s a great director and great people. I would always love to do that.”

The Phoenician Scheme is in Australian cinemas now. 

This Michael Cera interview features in the June-August 2025 issue of Rolling Stone AU/NZ. If you’re eager to get your hands on it, then now is the time to sign up for a subscription.

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