Michael Cera first appeared in the "The Blame Game" episode of the Canadian mystery/drama series ‘Twice in a Lifetime’ in 1999. That same year, he joined the cast of the Canadian children's science fiction comedy television series ‘I Was a Sixth Grade Alien.’ He played the role of ‘Larrabe Hicks’ and remained a part of the series until it went off-air in 2001. Cera made his big-screen debut in the 2000 science fiction thriller drama film ‘Frequency,’ directed by Gregory Hoblit. The film received positive response from critics and was a commercial success. In 2003, he got his breakthrough role as George Michael Bluth in the American television sitcom ‘Arrested Development’ created by Mitchell Hurwitz. He remained a part of the show until 2006. Cera also produced season 4 (2014) and season 5 (2018-2019) of ‘Arrested Development.’
Cera made a return to the big screen with the 2007 American coming-of-age teen buddy comedy film ‘Superbad’ directed by Greg Mottola. The film opened to wide critical acclaim and was a massive box office success, grossing over $170.8 million on a budget of $20 million. He next acted in ‘Extreme Movie’ (2008), ‘Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist’ (2008), ‘Year One’ (2009), and ‘Youth in Revolt’ (2009). In 2010, he starred as ‘Scott Pilgrim’ in the romantic action comedy film ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ directed by Edgar Wright. While the film saw positive reviews upon release, it failed to achieve success at the box office. Nevertheless, the film garnered a cult following in the subsequent years.
He also acted in ‘The End of Love’ (2012), ‘Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus’ (2013), ‘Magic Magic’ (2013), ‘Hits’ (2014), ‘A Very Murray Christmas’ (2015), ‘Sausage Party’ (2016), ‘The Lego Batman Movie’ (2017), ‘How to Be a Latin Lover’ (2017), and ‘Between Two Ferns: The Movie’ (2019). Cera last appeared in the 2021 adult animated drama film ‘Cryptozoo,’ in which he voiced the character ‘Matthew.’ He will be next seen in the upcoming computer-animated comedy film ‘Blazing Samurai’ directed by Rob Minkoff and Mark Koetsier.