When it comes to comic book movies, Michael Cera has gone from playing the hero in Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World to the world’s most famous sidekick as he voices Robin in The Lego Batman Movie, although when asked which he prefers, he can’t really compare.
“Well, this movie was a ton less work. Not that that would make it a preference … I probably spent an accumulated 20 hours working on this movie, and Scott Pilgrim was about nine months, but it was the best time,” says Cera. “I think (voice work) is the easiest job on the planet. Not to diminish it. I can’t think of a less laborious task.”
That’s in stark contrast to the long and complicated process facing the animators. Despite that, Cera says that he got to put his own spin on the character.
“It is an interesting process, and the director Chris McKay is really great with actors. They experiment endlessly, because they don’t want to commit and begin animating until they really feel that it’s in the right shape, because it takes so long to animate, they want to be sure.”
The 28-year-old, Brampton-born actor is unfailingly polite and looks as though he hasn’t aged a day since his star-making turns in Superbad, Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist and of course, Scott Pilgrim. More recently, he played an against type scoundrel version of himself in This is the End and also voiced Barry in Sausage Party.
Cera admits that the campy ’60s TV show version of Batman was his formative look at the character, which he watched as child, but it just shows how malleable the family of Bat characters can be, from the grim and gritty to the bright and witty, like in The Lego Batman Movie.
“It really is such fertile soil for comedy. Batman is a silly character, if you swing the lens just a little bit. He’s this guy who imposes this prison of his life on itself and insists on being a loner. And this darkness, this brooding. It’s very angst-y. It’s not hard to peel back the layer and see the humour of that character.”
As well, he feels the frenetic pace of this film hearkens to the rat-a-tat jokes in older, classic Looney Tunes cartoons.
“It’s totally kinetic. It reminds me a little of the old Chuck Jones joke-joke-joke, the frequency is non-stop, you’re still processing a joke and get three more coming at you,” he say. “That what I really love about this film, the rhythm and pacing.”
Cera joins a long list of actors who have now voiced the Boy Wonder, although, his version is unique.
“He’s basically a child, and I don’t think I’ve seen a Robin who is a little boy looking for a home, I think that’s an endearing take on him. It’s good for this movie,” he says.
Despite not actually getting to be in the same room together to record their lines, the project is also a reunion of sorts for Cera and Will Arnett, who reprises his role of Batman from The Lego Movie. The two worked together on Arrested Development, which is once again churning the internet rumour mill regarding possibly returning for another season on Netflix. Just like many fans, Cera is hopeful for a return, but also of a more cohesive shoot than the last season.
“I have no news. I’m kind of on standby. I think we want to do it. But it’s a hard show to motivate into happening, because it’s such a big thing to wrangle. Everybody is on series, Jason Bateman is directing movies,” he says. “The thing we did last time with the fourth season, was to kind of shoot people out — (Jeffrey) Tambor would do all his stuff, and we do some stuff on green screen, and it was just kind of this hodgepodge just to make it happen, but I think this time the idea would be to have everyone there at the same time. It’s a fun cast.”
In the meantime, Cera remains busy mixing bigger films and indies as well as more voice work. Prior to doing press for this film, he was in town shooting Molly’s Game, an Aaron Sorkin-directed film that stars Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba. He has also joined David Lynch’s upcoming Twin Peaks reboot, and booked another animated feature, the upcoming Blazing Samurai, about a cat who takes up the sword.
The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
