Star of “Superbad,” “Arrested Development,” “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World,” “Barbie” and much more, Michael Cera has emerged as a modern master of comedic acting. Whether he’s being awkward, dorky or some form of heroic, Cera is certainly a man with talent.
However, his body of work is not what I primarily associate with this man. No, his claim to fame in my mind is his appearance. To be more specific, his resemblance to me and the constant reminders of it. When people first meet me— or even when they just see me in passing— the most common line they open with is some variation of “Has anyone ever said you look like Michael Cera?” Yes. Yes they have.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with looking like Michael Cera. He’s a decently attractive gentleman and he’s quite enjoyable to watch on screen. The problem comes with the recurring probes of my resemblance to the actor. When it starts to feel like half of my interactions with people begin with the same comment, it starts to get slightly irksome.
Of course, I can’t just call somebody out when they say it. From their perspective, it’s the first time they’re seeing this guy who looks just like famous actor Michael Cera. With this in mind, I don’t fault people for their reactions. I still get tired of it, though.
I can’t remember the first time I heard the comparison, but the earliest I can remember happened in the summer of 2019, just after my freshman year of high school. I was talking with a coworker who said I looked like the guy from “Superbad.” I didn’t know the person in question (in retrospect, I can’t fathom how a 15-year-old boy in the midwest wasn’t familiar with “Superbad”), but when he showed me a picture, I said something along the lines of “Oh, Michael Cera! Yeah, I’ve heard that before.”
I don’t know why, but I’ve started hearing that a lot more recently. In my senior year of high school, some “Scott Pilgrim” fans took a group picture with me. People have told me they couldn’t watch “Barbie” without seeing my face every time Cera’s character Allan appeared on screen. I could go on for some time.
The comparisons have started to change my daily life, albeit in small ways. Whenever I notice that somebody looks like a celebrity, I’ll hold my tongue because I figure they’ve probably heard that a million times before. I’ve heard countless stories of friends talking to other JCU students, referring to me as “the kid who looks like Michael Cera.” For better or for worse, that is my most notable feature.
Someday I might learn to embrace this resemblance, but for now, I’m making peace with it. At this point, it feels like a kind of horseshoe-type effect. I heard people tell me so often that it got annoying, but then I heard even more so that I started becoming numb to it. I’ve mostly stopped caring, so I let people have their fun with it. I won’t necessarily join in, but I’m not going to stop them. They can make all the jokes they want. It no longer affects me.
