Canadian actor Michael Cera talks about life after Juno success

Feb 4 2010 By Kate Whiting

Bookshelves have long been plundered for movie inspiration, but when supermarket giant Tesco announces that it's going to begin turning books into movies, you know the adaptation business is thriving.

For fans of Catcher In The Rye, there's a coming-of-age treat in the form of Youth In Revolt, an adaptation of American absurdist writer C.D. Payne's Youth In Revolt: The Journals Of Nick Twisp.

The film stars Michael Cera, who's made his name through a string of geeky roles in Juno, Superbad and last year's Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist.

At 21, Cera is no newcomer to Hollywood - he's been acting since he was nine - but it was his role as high school student father Paulie Bleeker in Juno that made critics take notice.

He was even nominated for the Bafta Orange Rising Star Award. In Youth In Revolt, he plays straight-laced teen Nick Twisp, who has a taste for the finer things in life like Sinatra and Fellini.

On a family holiday, he falls for free-spirited Sheeni (Portia Doubleday) and she eggs him on to create a rebellious French alter-ego: Francois. Sporting a moustache and smoking, Francois takes Nick in a new direction, as he tries to win Sheeni's love.

Canadian Cera had long been a fan of author C.D. Payne and was signed up to the project before Juno and Superbad even hit our screens.

"The book is really funny. I was around the age of Nick when I read it and I completely related to it," says Cera, with a half-smile.

"I related to the agony of not knowing what'sgoing on and being obsessed with a girl and not having any control, which Payne wrote really perfectly."

When Nick meets Sheeni, he's feeling completely disillusioned about his mundane existence, as Cera explains: "Nick doesn't have a great home life. His parents are divorced and his life is stagnant. He meets this girl who blows his mind and feels he had to hang onto her."

Cera reportedly split from his actress girlfriend Charlyne Yi last summer after they co-starred in indie project Paper Heart.

He says he can relate to the "torment" Nick suffers through his lovefor the mysterious Sheeni.

"You never know what she feels about you or what she's really thinking. That's really what I loved about the character. She's so well-depicted in the book."

Despite having to play two very different characters in the same film, Cera insists he didn't find this a difficult task. Infact, he loved the opportunity to play a naughty French version of Nick.

"I wouldn't say it was hard, except for the technical tricks of it. I can't think of any challenges, except for trying to figure out how to play Francois initially."

After some consultation with director Miguel Arteta, Cera decided not to give Francois an obvious French accent.

"I think it would have been confusing," he says. "He wouldn't have sounded French, he would have sounded like Nick trying to sound French.

"There was a lot to take in there already without him having an accent." With the help of a special effects team and a pair of aviators, Cera was able to inhabit both Nick and Francois on screen.

"Every situation was different, how we were going to get the two characters into the same frame or sometimes not in the same frame. We developed the characters by rehearsing a lot and talking about the book a lot."

Cera was born in Ontario and began his showbiz career in TV adverts. At 11, he landed a role in Canadian series I Was A Sixth Grade Alien and went on to star in sitcom Arrested Development for three series beforeit was cancelled.

Itwas 2007 that would see his film career blossom, when he starred in Superbad, written by fellow Canadian Seth Rogen. Then came Juno, the small indie film that won over audiences and critics through its light-hearted study of teenage pregnancy.

Juno opened up moredoors for Ceraand won him bigger parts including a role opposite comedy heavyweight Jack Black in last year's Year One.

Has Cerabeen surprised byhis success over the last few years? "Yeah I've been surprised, but I started acting when I was nine, so it took a while to start feeling that I was going to be able to keep working. It'sjust nice to make movies and work with great people."

He may now be the poster boy for the geeky indie romantic lead, but he's convinced he hasn't been stereotyped.

"I don't think I'll be pigeon-holed," he says. "The way I choose my projects normally is I see who is involved and I see if they're people I can work with and get along with. I've been really lucky, so hopefully that will continue."

His policy seems to be working and his next role will be something different again - he plays a guy who must defeat his girlfriend's evil boyfriends in Scot Pilgrim Vs The World, adapted from a graphic novel."It's going to be really fast," he says. "It's a lot like the graphic novel but it has it's own voice."

Whatever Cera does after that, it seems the world will definitely be watching.

Youth In Revolt is released in cinemas on Friday, February 5.