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The interviews are all centered around the question of, What is that snapshot of you?
They turned into some of the most meaningful conversations Ive ever had.
Jonah
Michael Cera:How ya doing buddy?
Can you hear me?
My phone needs a few seconds, its warming up.
Youve never converted to a smartphone?No, its a dumb phone.
Im gonna ask you some questions Mikey, my friend.
Where did you grow up?In Canada.
Im just gonna say you know that to everything you ask.
You grew up in Branson, I know that.
I didnt know you when you were a kid.
You were probably like 17 when I met you.
What were you like as a little kid?
Did you have the same sense of humor?I was pretty fun.
Starting around five I had a couple friends and we were a solid group that just kind of grew.
I was bad at school.
When did you start performing professionally?I started going on commercial auditions when I was nine.
It was not a thing that my parents pushed.
It was fun, and I was kind of good at it.
I was not good at anything athletic.
All my friends were excelling at hockey, and I just never even started with hockey.
I missed the boat on it.
I just needed something to do and be good at.
The class was a very small, townie kind of thing.
We would put on a show at the end of the year, a performance for the parents.
It was a little taste of backstage nerves and this kind of dopamine rush of performance.
Now youre doing a lot of Broadway and stage work.
Its been incredible to watch you become this amazing theater actor.
It was almost like a new challenge?A totally new challenge.
The duration of it and the whole thing, just the unknown of it.
What happens when we screw up and were hanging out there in front of people?
I like that too, that excitement and kinetic energy of newness and fear.
But I feel like you and I both share an element of not wanting that in life.Its true.
I guess some people seek that in life.
Most people dont have something like that.
What a gift.Yeah it is.
Youd definitely be a serial killer if you didnt act.
Anyway, so youre a kid, youre doing this thing that you love.
Even though theres no real reason I could point to.
I had a lot of friends and they all loved me and everything.
Youre just figuring it out and trying to learn who you are as you keep changing radically.
I found it very challenging for a while.
I dont feel like I really clicked into a thing until 27.
Do you think you carried that 11-year-old kid with you?Probably.
Thats part of the big mixed bag of all the people that youve been.
Thats something my mind goes to, but its not the whole story.
Are you able to separate and go, Thats not me now?Yeah.
Im able to look at myself 10 years back and understand that thats not who I am now.
Do you have that?
I have trouble with it.You do?
Because then its almost like youre not whole.
Youre not loving every part of yourself.Youre denying something.
Its also natural to grow as you get older.
I think that happens without even needing to do too much active work.
I think thats better than liking yourself less now than then.
Ive always respected your ability to be true to yourself when things got too exposed.
You kind of went in a quieter direction.
It was very weird.
I didnt feel like any of it was something that I had built.
I was living in L.A. without really understanding why I lived there or how I ended up there.
We had a lot of love for each other that has lasted.
I look at the insane version of myself and Im like, That guy is terrible.
I couldnt spend five minutes with him.
But it doesnt bother you to feel that way?
Youre just like, Yeah, thats being 19.Yeah, it just makes me kind of understand.
What do you think brought you the most confidence in your life?A lot of things.
Ive been pretty lucky in my life.
I feel lucky getting to do what I want to do for a living.
Its such a crazy gift.
I mean I dont know if that gives me confidence.
Maybe.It gives me happiness.
I think you’re free to be confident if you feel good about your life.
A lot of peoples lack of confidence comes from circumstances and forces that are out of their control.
Thats so right.Ive learned a lot from my relationship.
Being in a long-term relationship, you go through a lot and you learn about yourself.
You grow that way.
The feeling that people really know you and love you, that makes you feel confident.
Feeling really loved helps you love yourself, I think.
Even though it would obviously be very hard and bad.
Maybe thats kind of cliche.
I dont think it is at all.
I think thats really profound.I hadnt experienced it before.
Weve gone through a lot together, and I give her the same thing.
Sometimes youre not the best version of yourself.
But you cant take it out in the relationship because thats where you live.
At the end of the day, were always kind of owning our behavior.
Mikey, I am so proud of the person you are.
Next time lets do that.
