Michael Cera vs. Jesse Eisenberg: is this the end of the lovable geek?
Ever since he stole our hearts as the Tommy Bahama–bedecked George Michael Bluth on Arrested Development, Brampton boy Michael Cera has been Hollywood’s go-to geek. Not since Lewis and Gilbert took their revenge has any actor done so much to make dorks look cool. He did it in Superbad, then he did it in Juno, then in Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, and so on. For a while, Cera ruled supreme over all things dweeb, but some recent developments in movieland—namely Jesse Eisenberg’s amazing performance as ruthless Facebook über-geek Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network—have us wondering whether Cera and the era of the lovable Poindexter is officially over.
To settle the debate, we ask that you vote for your preferred geek, but first, a few points to consider.
• Big-screen showdown: Rumour has it that Cera was keen to play Facebook’s morally questionable creator in The Social Network. Truthfully, we can’t imagine anyone nailing the unlikely combination of intense nerdiness and obscene A-holeism quite like Eisenberg. Insiders say he’s a shoe-in for a best actor nomination come Oscar season, and we think he deserves it. (Advantage: Eisenberg)
• Small-screen chops: If you haven’t seen every last episode of Cera in Arrested Development, we suggest you stop reading this blog entry immediately and get thee to a DVD store. And if you haven’t seen a single episode of Eisenberg’s short-lived TV series Get Real, well, you probably shouldn’t bother because it wasn’t very good. (Advantage: Cera)
• Diva factor: Cera is the infamous Arrested Development movie holdout. That’s right. Ron Howard, Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi and David Cross were in, but Michael Cera wasn’t sure. As if! We needn’t point out that the guy wouldn’t even have a career without AD, but we will anyway. But Eisenberg has also been known to outgrow his britches. During the promotional tour for Adventureland, he answered a question about his co-star Kristen Stewart’s relationship with Robert Pattinson by pointing out that there are people starving in Africa. Oh, get over yourself. (Advantage: neither)
[poll]
NEVER MISS A TORONTO LIFE STORY
Sign up for This City, our free newsletter about everything that matters right now in Toronto politics, sports, business, culture, society and more.
Courtney Shea is a freelance journalist in Toronto. She started her career as an intern at Toronto Life and continues to contribute frequently to the publication, including her 2022 National Magazine Award–winning feature, “The Death Cheaters,” her regular Q&As and her recent investigation into whether Taylor Swift hung out at a Toronto dive bar (she did not). Courtney was a producer and writer on the 2022 documentary The Talented Mr. Rosenberg, based on her 2014 Toronto Life magazine feature “The Yorkville Swindler.”
