Michael Cera Got His TV Start By Voice Acting On Canadian-Made Cartoons
Brampton born actor Michael Cera has been on TV screens since the late '90s, but rose to fame in the mid-2000s when Superbad and Juno premiered in the same year. Known for his often awkward but adorable demeanour, the 31-year-old started his acting career as a teen. Michael Cera voiced tons of characters on cartoons that you probably grew up watching.
According to IMDb, Cera's very first role came in 1999 when he appeared in the drama series Twice in a Lifetime.
In 2001, the then 13-year-old landed his first voice role in Anne of Green Gables: The Animated Series as Benjamin for one episode. The series was produced by two companies including Sullivan Entertainment, whose website notes they are located on Davenport Road in Toronto.
That same year, Cera voiced two episodes of The Ripping Friends,produced in part by Cambium Entertainment who are located in Toronto, as well as Spümcø Canada.
Remember the bouncy circular robots in Rolie Polie Olie? The Canadian actor actually voiced Young Gizmo from 2001 to 2003. One of the show's six production companies includes Nelvana, a Canadian animation studio part of Corus Entertainment that's located in Toronto.
Nelvana also worked on the 2002 movie Rolie Polie Olie: The Great Defender of Fun where Cera voiced his same character.
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In 2003, TV Guide writes that the Superbad star voiced Robbie Rabbit on the cartoon about a square penguin called Pecola. One of its four production companies is also Nelvana.
Hold on to your jaws for this one, because Cera actually voiced Brother on The Berenstain Bears. He voiced 175 episodes from 2003 to 2011 and IMDb notes that the series was produced in part by Nelvana. The family of bears was just one of the many cartoons from our childhood that were created in Canada.
From 2001 to 2004, he worked alongside Clueless star Alicia Silverstone on the cartoon Braceface. Silverstone voiced lead character Sharon Spitz and Cera voiced her brother Josh. The filming location on IMDb was Toronto and Nelvana was one of the co-production companies.
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Since Cera's voice acting career has slowed down, his most recent TV role was as George-Michael Bluth on Arrested Development that began back in 2003, says IMDb.
He also reprised his voice acting skills in three episodes of the new Netflix series Medical Police as the hospital PA system, Sal Viscuso.