Michael Cera Teases “Larger Than Life” World of Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme
Michael Cera joins Benicio del Toro and Mia Threapleton in Wes Anderson’s latest colorful romp.
Actor Michael Cera (Juno, Superbad) is a key part of the equation in Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme (in select theaters today).
Cera transforms into an endearing, bumbling insect specialist, Bjorn Lund, who finds himself entangled in the web of the absurdly rich and hard to kill Zsa-Zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro). Lund is hired on as a family tutor for the cunning businessman. He may be a new hire, but he learns about the wild family antics quickly.
“Wes is really good at creating characters that feel kind of larger than life but are always grounded and human beings at some level, even if they’re sort of ridiculous like [Bjorn] is,” Cera told NBC Insider about working with the prolific director. “I think that’s why actually anybody cares about Wes’ movies. He creates a lot of… heart in his characters and in the dynamics.”
RELATED: The Cast & Characters of Wes Anderson's The Phoenician Scheme Explained
Bjorn joins Zsa-Zsa and his only daughter Leisl (Mia Threapleton) on their journey to securing funding for an ambitious business venture.
Who does Michael Cera Play in The Phoenician Scheme?
Like a moth to a flame, Bjorn is drawn to Zsa Zsa and (most especially) Leisl. As an entomologist, Bjorn introduces the characters to several insects throughout the movie.
“The insects were mostly real, which was fun just to work with these little creatures,” Cera said. “It’s sort of nerve-wracking at first, but then after a few minutes of holding them you get like a sense of sort being a caretaker for them. You feel like they’re nervous. They don’t understand the situation and you just want to make them comfortable, which kind of helps you get over any weirdness of holding them.”
For Cera, working with Anderson was “thrilling” from the moment he was invited to play a character.
“Wes had created this guy and then he’s asking me to do it,” Cera said. “Reading the script, there’s just so many great moments. I think the whole movie is kind of great moment after great moment with all the characters.”
Michael Cera discusses shooting quicksand scene for The Phoenician Scheme
“I was just like, ‘Wow, I have so. Much fun stuff to do, like I get to jump into quicksand,” Cera said about his thoughts while reading the script. “You never get to do that.”
Alas, Cera wanted to keep exactly how they shot the memorable quicksand scene was under wraps, so as to preserve the movie magic for the audience.
“It’s so magical ... It was a really good trick,” Cera said, though he did reveal the scene was filmed practically, albeit without real quicksand. “I really did jump into that!”
Michael Cera shares what it was like working with Riz Ahmed on The Phoenician Scheme
“In my memory, Riz Ahmed was the first kind of person to come along outside of the main core three, myself, Benicio, and Mia and it’s really exciting actually when we sort of develop a little rapport between the three of us, and then suddenly there’s like this injection with each new person that comes onto the set and brings their scene to life,” Cera said. “I remember doing those scenes with Riz and just being amazed with him and what he was doing.”
Ahmed (The Night Of, Sound of Metal) plays Price Farouk in the stacked cast. Other A-list actors who make show stopping appearances in the film are Bryan Cranston, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, and Benedict Cumberbatch.
“It’s just like a whole new energy and so fun to see that character coming to life in front of your eyes,” Cera said.
The Phoenician Scheme is in select theaters now; the film opens wide on Friday, June 6 . Get tickets now!
