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Michael Cera kind of fell off for a little bit, didn’t he? He seemed to be everywhere in the mid-late aughts and then was taking on smaller/supporting/voice roles for a while. But now he’s appearing in Amy Schumer’s Hulu show, the anxiously-awaited Barbie movie, a new Nicholas Cage movie, and a drama called The Adults. Michael spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about his current and upcoming projects, staying out of the limelight and avoiding social media, and why he doesn’t have a smartphone.
Michael Cera is opening up about his lack of social media presence.
Speaking with the Hollywood Reporter in an interview that published Friday, the Superbad actor, 34, explained that he’s never felt compelled to be online that way, saying the decision “doesn’t feel conscious.”
“I guess it’s just something that I didn’t elect to do,” he said. “Because everybody does it, it starts to feel like a big choice. But it’s just not interesting to me.”
However, Cera did make a “conscious choice” not to have a smartphone. “I feel a bit of fear about it honestly like I’d really lose control of my waking life,” the star noted.
As an example, Cera pointed out a specific incident when he hung out with his friend who had gotten a smartphone. “I had lunch with a friend of mine who was my best friend at the time, and he’d just gotten a Blackberry, and for the whole meal he was typing emails, and I was sat there lonely and bored,” he recalled. “So I had an early aversion to them.”
Cera went on to note to THR that “a lot of people” tell him they’re envious of Cera’s choice. “For many years, people resented me for this lifestyle choice,” he shared. “But now people say that they envy it.”
The Arrested Development star said that “it’s very possible” that not having social media has impacted his career: “I mean, I’m definitely not holding any sway in that category. So if that’s an important thing I think I wouldn’t be considered.”
So Michael’s story about the newly Blackberried friend typing emails throughout lunch is so rude and yet so commonplace now. People definitely text/IG too much in group settings and it is annoying though I’m sure I’m guilty of it too. Doing it at a one-on-one meal is uniquely rude though, unless it’s a work emergency, but I also think phones keep us too tethered to work. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have a smartphone, honestly, so I get why people envy Michael. But logistically, they are extremely handy. For instance, smartphones make traveling and navigating unfamiliar areas way easier. And also, just doing something as simple checking the closing time for a local restaurant or store is easier to do on the go with a smartphone. But yes, I stare at mine too much and Michael has the right idea. But has social media affected his career? I don’t actually think so. He’s always given off a kind of shy vibe so it’s not surprising he’s not on social media; and men seem to get away with abstaining from that without impact to their earning potential.
I agree with the tethered to work part. I’ve gained a lot of autonomy and flexibility during my work day because of smart phones but I’ve lost the ability to truly ever be “off work”
I suppose this is what passes for insightful among actors
Pfft, right? So he doesn’t communicate. Got it.
Wow, I’m impressed. I held out on getting a smartphone for what felt like a long time, I think until 2014. I remember being kind of embarrassed for anyone to see my flip phone if I was out & about with friends in the city where I worked — but I also was so happy to not be tethered to it and distracted out of the present. I miss that, as much as I appreciate having ready access to tools like Google Maps when I’m on the go. I’ve been thinking about eventually switching to the “wisephone” I learned about recently: https://techless.com/
I held out until 2013 or 2014 but decided to get one after getting lost on my way to work and needing to find a gas station and no one could tell me where one was. The maps thing is just so good! I guess if my car had been halfway nice it would have had a gps but alas, it did not
Well I beat you ! I didn’t get a smart phone until 2018. I hate how phones are a status symbol. I felt embarrassed using my flip phone too. I gave in and got a smart phone. The funny thing is I only use it for text and talk anyways. I have no data on my phone, no apps. Nothing.
I had my first smartphone in 2017.
I moved to a new place and i needed Internet.
I’m definitely guilty of spending too much time on my phone and on social media. That said, a smartphone is absolutely indispensable for travel these days. I took a trip last week to an unfamiliar city, the airport was seamless, all I needed was my phone boarding passes and passport, car was ready for me to drive away, map and driving directions immediately available, remote check-in to our Airbnb, etc. And when we travel n Europe, translation apps are so helpful, not to mention navigating tiny single lane villages.
I also feel like I keep in closer touch with my far-flung kids than I would otherwise. We text back and forth often, sending pics and comments and questions. I think it gives us all a closer glimpse into each others lives that even regular phone calls would.
I spend too much time on twitter for sure, but I also depend on some of my news resources there better than main stream reporting. CNN has gone to the dark side, networks mostly all have profit agendas, so I follow specific journalists that I respect (not necessarily just those I like but those who will be honest) and feel like I get a better balanced view of events. Also..kittens
If you want to change those habits, take those apps off your phone. Voila! The only social media app I have on my phone is insta, bc you can’t post from the website (or if you can, I don’t know how). I put the kindle app on my phone and so I read instead of scroll
This is exactly what I tell family and friends. If your phone is bugging, remove the bugs. Everytime T-Mobile contacts me, Cartman asks if I wanna suck his balls. I’m only in as far as I want to be lol.
I want to say it’s hard to get roles when you almost have no range but if Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Jesse Eisenberg can get roles for virtually playing the same dude then he can too.
I think he aged out of his particular schtick. Not saying the three you mentioned have a wide range, but the roles translated to other stuff.
Yeah, you can only play a cutely awkward youth for so long…. He is pushing forty now isn’t he, and unless he has yet unseen skills his roles will be characters that are pathetic/creepy.
I totally get not wanting to be on social media but I NEED my smartphone. I need GPS. I need Internet access. And a host of other apps. Some required for work or handling personal business. It’s just such a useful tool that makes life easier.
I enjoyed him as George Michael on Arrested Development (great dry delivery) but kind of forgot about him until I watched Life and Beth on Hulu. He plays Amy Schumer’s autistic boyfriend and he does an amazing job. So many people over act, especially on (sadly) roles like this. He’s so understated and subtle in this role, its perfect. Even my husband—who specifically didn’t like him (for unknown reasons) said after watching the show, “I like him now.”
I don’t know that not having a smart phone is an option for me. My kids are in sports and we use an app that allows everyone to communicate. When schedules change, if someone is lost on the way to the field. Not to mention the Maps app. I guess if you have a GPS you could get around it. It’s also my calendar, phone/address book. I think most people probably use their smart phone for social media a lot of the time but for me its more to do with managing my and my kids life.
My kids are in sports and we use an app that allows everyone to communicate.
Same.
This anti-smartphone attitude among people who are already professionally successful/wealthy always strikes me as extremely privileged and unaware of that privilege. If you have kids, if you have a job that requires you to have a smartphone, if you want to stay competitive in said job so that you can continue to purchase food and clothing for those kids, if you make money through self-promotion of any kind (and I’m assuming Cera has a publicist/agent/etc., all of whom *do* have to own and use smartphones on his behalf)…you can’t just opt out and talk about how it’s a philosophical decision (with the implicit message that a lack of tech somehow indicates superiority).
I get more worked up about this than I probably should, sorry. Actors get work based on audiences knowing about them, which means they have to do publicity work, which is done by people who work for them/around them/in media…with smartphones. For their jobs. Only one person in that whole chain can afford to wax on about choosing to avoid tech. The person at the top.
ITA. On a smaller scale one of my uncles (mid seventies-ish in age) kind of trumpets proudly about how he gets by just fine without a cell phone or email. You know the type. But guess what, that is because he lives with his wife who does have both of those things, and so we are always emailing her or texting her communications for him, and she is using apps on her phone for directions, etc.
He doesn’t have kids and can use his computer for emails LOL. It’s not that big of a deal. It’s ok not to respond to an email for a couple hours if you’re out of the house. It’s shitty that our culture forces everyone to be on a phone and available 24/7. That’s abnormal, not this.
Yep. It would be really easy to not have a smartphone if I had an agent and assistant and others who could do all that work for me.
@Evelyn, I agree. It’s a very self-righteous attitude, much like people who used to brag about never watching tv.
Does my smartphone drive me nuts? Yes. Do I look at it more than I should? Also yes. But I work as an applications analyst so I have work apps and necessary multi-factor authentication for my job. Messaging helps me stay in touch with my stepkids and my friends. And it’s so helpful for travel, paying bills, and entertainment (love my audiobooks, ebooks, and podcasts).
I think it’s great. Honestly shocked more young people haven’t gone this direction… social media selfie culture is so boring and over.
I think it’s great too.
I think they will. I think people are overloaded and exhausted by digital bs.
I respect this, but it’s also a privilege to eschew them. He has an assistant who is tethered to the technology he doesn’t keep on his person. Because in reality as much as I’m burnt out on smartphones and 24/7 connectivity, I’m not able to just dump them. I’ve given up every social media platform except Instagram (and this I guess lol). I get annoyed whenever I’m told the app makes things easier/is the only way to have access to things (my gym has it so I have to check in via app). I wish I could get rid of it entirely. I hate planned obsolescence. I love FaceTime and tracking though because I live far from extended family and FaceTime means my kids can actually see their grandparents and tracking means I can see when my kids are on their way home from school. But I have taken nearly every app off my phone that is possible to do without, and I make it so I can’t receive calls or texts from 7pm to 7am. I’m just so tired of it. Ugh.
Completely agree with you. So many apps only complicate things or are just unnecessary. And it’s a privilege not to have to have a smartphone and deal with the crap that comes with it.
People are getting offended because someone called out cell phone culture. You don’t need all the apps. I am a contractor and I don’t log into Google for security reasons. All I use is maps- it wants you to log in to track you-, text, contacts- I DO NOT FILL IN THE WHOLE CONTACT, notes, and calendar. Everything else you can do yourself. Don’t give apps to much power because they can delete your info at anytime.
Plus you forget how to do things. I steal so much company time because I know how to do things the old way. So instead of constantly backtracking my systems/forms are already maximized. What takes a co-worker 1 hour im done in 25 minutes. Never tell them why you take so long to set up. Just do it and reap the rewards.
I would say smartphones in the end help more than they hurt for most people’s live. I remember one time my brother and I were at the Art Institute of Chicago, and I wanted to go look at the Chagall mosaics at the Chase building. We knew they were close but didn’t want to wander the cold streets. We sat in a Starbucks and called friends until someone was in front of a computer and could give us directions.
When Facebook was new-ish and I was a teenager I loved arrested development and I found Michael Cera on Facebook,
Sent him a message saying how great is as George Michael Bluth. He replied and was polite 🙂
Michael Cera looks like an owl.
I’ve never had a cell phone of any kind–not rich or famous–certainly don’t have an assistant. If someone dies, leave me a message on my landline; they will still be dead when I get home. And somehow, my mother–and many others–raised all of their kids without one–just don’t get it.