Famous actor Michael Cera revealed he nearly quit Hollywood at the peak of his career because he simply wasn’t comfortable with fame.
Cera catapulted to a newfound level of superstardom after his roles in the 2007 classics “Superbad” and “Juno,” but he admitted it was too overstimulating for him at times.
“That was sort of overwhelming” Cera said, according to The Guardian. “I didn’t know how to handle walking down the street,” he explained, referring to what it was like to be swarmed by fans and paparazzi.
Michael Cera says he wasn’t sure if he wanted to continue acting after the overwhelming fame from ‘SUPERBAD’.
He says he was already signed to do ‘SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD’ and “[I] obviously feel so grateful that that happened.”
(Source: https://t.co/KMJ8D3LvJb) pic.twitter.com/dpdkk976fe
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) July 17, 2023
Cera further described what it was like for him when he became a full-blown celebrity.
“Fame makes you very uncomfortable in your own skin, and makes you paranoid and weird,” he said.
“There were lots of great things about it, and I met a lot of amazing people, but there’s a lot of bad energies, too, ones that I was not equipped to handle,” he told The Guardian.
The actor went on to describe what he meant by “bad energies.”
“Drunk people would be a classic example,” he said.
“You know, if people are drunk, and they recognize you, and they’re very enthusiastic, but it can be kind of toxic too,” he noted. “When you’re a kid, people also feel they can kind of grab you — they’re not that respectful of you or your physical space,” he said.
The exposure was too much for him at the tender age of 19.
“I didn’t know how to respectfully establish my own boundaries,” he said.
Cera recalled going to a local bar with his friends on the weekend “Superbad” was released. He had a difficult time, saying, “it was a mistake. It was like a burning feeling the whole time, just like everybody was so aware of me.”
Cera said he enjoyed being a working actor, but wanted to take on more low-key roles. He admitted he stepped away from commercial projects.
Michael Cera is just ‘Allan’ in a new clip from #BarbieTheMovie. pic.twitter.com/hBoWYAQSuD
— Rotten Tomatoes (@RottenTomatoes) July 15, 2023
“There was a point where I wanted to stop taking jobs that would make me more famous.”
He was eventually offered to host “Saturday Night Live” but declined, to the dismay of his agents.
“I was kind of having a bit of a crisis … I was really not enjoying the level of heat,” he said.
“I really didn’t know if I was going to keep being an actor,” he said. (RELATED: ‘Hollywood Has Always Been Very Disturbing’: Actor Pen Badgley Doubles Down On Refusing Racy Sex Scenes)
Ultimately, his commitment to fulfilling his agreement to star in the film “Scott Pilgrim vs The World” pushed him to continue.
“I was already committed to it, and went and did it, and obviously feel so grateful that that happened,” he said.