Michael Cera Joins 'Magic Magic': Star In Indie Film

If some agent or adviser at some point told Michael Cera that, in order to be a true star, he's going to have to run far away from the successful but perhaps stale awkward man-boy persona he had built for himself, the advice got through loud and clear. After disappearing for a solid year, the "Superbad" star is now surfacing in an entirely new world: an indie drama set in Chile.

Variety reports that Cera, who, from his debut in "Arrested Development" through last summer's "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World," grew up on screen into Hollywood's go-to embodiment of lovable ball of indie geek nerves, has signed on to star in a career-shifting film titled "Magic Magic." About "a girl vacationing with her friends in a remote area of Chile who slowly starts losing her mental faculties," who goes off the deep-end, Cera's role has yet to be announced but will presumably be rather significant.

The film is an important step in the evolution of Cera; like so many other (and older) film comedy stars who made it big in the middle of the last decade, he's found a public less receptive of his staple role in the past few years, necessitating a career revamp. To wit: Will Ferrell's departure from his big screen goofball into more serious indie faire (namely, the upcoming "Everything Must Go"), as well as John C. Reilly's going back to drama for his Cannes entry, "We Need To Talk About Kevin."

Cera's last film, the video game-inspired graphic novel adaptation "Scott Pilgrim," was a critical hit but disappointed at the box office, and he's been largely MIA ever since. Having played similar cute/meek characters in "Juno," "Superbad," "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" and a number of other films, he's hoping "Magic Magic" does the trick in taking his career to the next step.

For more, click over to Variety.