00:00Could you imagine falling in love with a man like me, by the way, hypothetically?
00:05You're drunk on three beers.
00:07Hi, I'm Alex from NME, and today I'm joined by comic actor extraordinaire, part-time indie musician, and all-round great guy, it's Michael Cera.
00:14How are we doing?
00:15That's a nice intro, thank you. I have to compliment you on your shoes.
00:18Oh, thank you so much.
00:19People on camera can't see them.
00:20Yeah, they're not on camera, so...
00:21They're very nice.
00:22You could have done my t-shirt, I mean, what's for the...
00:23The shirt is great.
00:24People can see that.
00:25That's fantastic.
00:26You sent an email to one of my reporter friends at NME back in 2017 out of the blue.
00:31Okay.
00:32Do you remember that?
00:33In 2017?
00:34Yeah.
00:35No, I don't remember anything about 2017.
00:36It was because you'd just done a song with Sharon Van Etten.
00:39Oh, yeah.
00:40For the film Dina, right?
00:42Yeah.
00:43What was that about?
00:44Why were you sending emails for that?
00:45Surely Michael Cera doesn't do his own PR.
00:47Yeah, I kind of do.
00:48Oh, really?
00:49That's amazing.
00:50Well, when it's come to my music stuff, I've just done it personally.
00:54I mean, I'm not going to hire someone.
00:56Do you know how expensive it is?
00:57I don't know.
00:58We'll get into it.
00:59Right now.
01:02No, but maybe I had already been in touch with Luke a few years earlier when my other
01:06album came out, because I wrote a bunch of music publications to do a few interviews
01:12about it.
01:13Did you get any sort of funny responses being like, I don't believe this is Michael Cera?
01:17I think some people may have run some kind of check.
01:21Like, is this really who they say they are?
01:24How do you check that, apart from replying?
01:26Ask other people or something.
01:27I think some people ask my manager.
01:29That's why.
01:30Oh, really?
01:31Because my manager then forwarded it to me and said, was this you?
01:32And I'm like, yes.
01:33And then, you know, they did it like that.
01:35Because your email etiquette is kind of notorious.
01:38Email etiquette?
01:39Yeah, because I think I'm right in saying that once you replied to a nine-year-old email
01:45thread, just randomly out of the blue.
01:47Right.
01:48Is that right?
01:49Yeah, that is right.
01:50It was kind of a joke.
01:51Did you just come across it?
01:53Because it was for Scott Pilgrim, wasn't it?
01:55Yeah.
01:56You know, it is just funny to bring an old email back to life.
01:59Because Chris Evans, I think, he said that he replied, what the fuck Chris is?
02:03What's going on?
02:05It was a good thread, though.
02:07I mean, it did merit kind of a reawakening, because we were all having fun on it back in
02:11the day.
02:12I wonder what the email etiquette for Wes Anderson Films is like.
02:16Does he do emails?
02:17Yeah.
02:18Because I know lots of famous, well, Christopher Nolan in particular is very sort of analog.
02:21Yeah.
02:22And Wes has quite an analog feel.
02:24Yeah.
02:25Is he big on emails?
02:26Yeah, Wes emails.
02:27Okay.
02:28Wes, he's a brilliant producer, too.
02:30Yeah.
02:31He's a brilliant writer, obviously.
02:32And obviously very, you know, evidently very brilliant director.
02:35But he's a very good kind of curator and producer, too.
02:40He's like, he's across everything.
02:42Yeah.
02:43So you get an email response from him normally quite quickly.
02:45Even, I know that even, like, you know, my agents have told me that, too.
02:50Like, even if you're an agent and you write him this, this, he kind of gets back to you.
02:53He's like, he's in it.
02:54Yeah.
02:55He's pushing his stuff along, you know, very actively.
02:57And back to the music, though, because you haven't released any music.
03:00And our readers are very interested because we're a music magazine.
03:03Oh, yeah.
03:04Since that Sharon Van Etten track, I don't think.
03:05Right.
03:06That's true.
03:07What gives?
03:08Well, I haven't really been creating any music.
03:10I mean, I play music every day, but I have little kids now.
03:14And I just don't, I don't have time or focus to do anything productive in that way.
03:20But I hope to, again, and normally it's kind of case specific.
03:23Normally there's like a specific project or, you know, intention or something.
03:28But yeah, it's just a time management, you know.
03:32Did the Phoenician scheme sort of re-elevate that desire in you?
03:36Yeah.
03:37I was hoping to get to pop in on them recording the score for this, but I just missed the timing of it.
03:43But we did have a, we shot the movie in Berlin or just outside of Berlin.
03:47And we kind of took over a little hotel out there in Potsdam.
03:50And I rented an electric piano that lived in the hotel.
03:55Oh, amazing.
03:56So that we could have some music atmosphere.
03:58It lived in the lobby.
03:59It lived in the lobby.
04:00Sometimes Wes's editing suite was like just on the other side of the wall right next to the piano.
04:04So sometimes they were in there working and someone would come out and go like, no music right now.
04:08But for the most part, it was embraced and we had some music nights and stuff.
04:12Oh, cool.
04:13Who else plays on the cast?
04:14Well, Hope Davis's husband, John, Hope came and she's in the movie and John was with her.
04:19And John like used to sing in a Beatles cover band.
04:22Amazing.
04:23And he's played in other bands and stuff and does his own music.
04:25But so he knew every Beatles song.
04:27So when he showed up, we got like some real music going.
04:30He kind of nudged you off the stool.
04:31Yeah, it was cool.
04:32I'll take over that.
04:33No, it was like, well, before that, it was like, it wasn't much of a sing along vibe.
04:36Cause you can't kind of generate that just by yourself.
04:38But when he showed up and then it was like, okay.
04:40And then we got these songs and these harmonies and it was like very real.
04:45You used to work for me.
04:47Oh, I'm sorry.
04:48Me?
04:49No.
04:50I was in disguise.
04:51Oh, Dr. Lansman.
04:52I recognize this assassin.
04:57Who hired you to kill me?
04:58So my next question is about your music again.
05:01It's my favorite track you did.
05:03Clay Pigeons.
05:04Oh yeah.
05:05Are you aware that it became a TikTok trend?
05:07Yeah.
05:08I am aware of that.
05:09I don't know why.
05:10It was like maybe a couple of years ago.
05:12It had like a spike.
05:13Yeah.
05:14And I even heard it like in a coffee shop once or twice.
05:17Like I couldn't explain algorithmically why that occurred.
05:22But I was aware that people found it.
05:25It must've been something with TikTok.
05:27How do you hear about these things if you're not on social media?
05:29Like point it out to you and you're like, what's a TikTok?
05:31Well, I have my music.
05:33You know, when you stream music, you have like a music aggregate.
05:36Like I use a music aggregate service.
05:38Yeah.
05:39And I get passive revenue from the streams.
05:41Yeah.
05:42And from one day to the next, it was like more, you know, that's why.
05:46I mean, I'm sorry.
05:47It's a crazy answer.
05:48But I was like, what's going on?
05:49And then it went away.
05:50I was like, what was that?
05:51So that's how I knew mostly, knew about it.
05:53Like so many artists must see that and think, what on earth is going on here?
05:57Yeah.
05:58And then someone says, TikTok.
05:59And then, but also like young people would like, you know, or people would tell me like,
06:03my daughter loves your song.
06:04Like I noticed a spike in that, like young people knowing about it.
06:08I've got another question for you.
06:10It's a bit embarrassing for me.
06:12But Michael, I think about you every morning and every evening.
06:16Do you know why?
06:17No.
06:18Am I on your computer's desktop background?
06:20I think maybe that this might help you to.
06:22Oh, you use this product.
06:23Yes, I do.
06:24Yeah.
06:25Every morning when I look at that, I think.
06:26Great.
06:27Michael Serrat.
06:28Use that every day.
06:29Yeah, yeah.
06:30You have a very good, disciplined self-care regimen.
06:31But, of course, you did that famous advert.
06:35Yeah.
06:36Which got nine billion impressions.
06:38Right.
06:39Do you get people in the street quoting it at you?
06:41Or at least bringing it up?
06:43People do mention it, yeah.
06:44More than your films?
06:45I don't know.
06:46I don't think so.
06:47But, you know, it's the first time I've ever really done a thing like that.
06:51And I appreciated how the whole thing went.
06:54I mean, it mainly went so well because I made it with Tim and Eric,
06:58the comedy duo who were friends of mine.
07:00And they directed it and they were my partners in the whole thing.
07:02And, you know, the company, CeraVe, and also the ad agency that made it.
07:09Everybody did a really careful job with it.
07:12It was like, you know, we discussed every aspect of it all the time.
07:16And, yeah, I was really happy with how it turned out.
07:19Because it can be hard.
07:20As an actor, I imagine you're thinking, oh, an advert.
07:23Okay, fine, I'll do it.
07:24Yeah, normally I don't do them because they're, you know, I mean, I don't know.
07:29It's, you know, it's like a very narrow bullseye to find like a circumstance
07:33where it would all make sense and feel like a yes.
07:36But this was like, great.
07:38And I was kind of just, yeah, happy about it.
07:41And we watched it go out live.
07:42And my son, who was like, I guess, two and a half at the time,
07:46because we watched it during dinner on the laptop, like streamed it.
07:49And we don't normally watch the Super Bowl or watch anything.
07:52And my son saw it, it came on, and he just watched the whole thing.
07:54Because he's never really like seen me on the screen or anything.
07:57This was the first time he saw you on screen was in a ceremony.
07:59Yeah, and he watched me do it.
08:00And then he just like, he had no reaction at all.
08:02He was just like, just kept eating.
08:03Like it didn't make him want to ask any questions.
08:07But he was like two and a half.
08:08He's probably not into skincare, is he?
08:10But it didn't strike him as odd.
08:11Like, why were you on TV?
08:13I have never seen you use that product, Dad.
08:16We chatted about it earlier, but not in depth.
08:21And I should bring up, you met Jackie Chan yesterday, I think, didn't you?
08:25I met him like 20 minutes ago.
08:26Yeah.
08:27Today.
08:28I didn't expect to meet him.
08:29I think you requested to meet him because he was doing a radio interview.
08:32Well, this is how it happened.
08:33They were like, you know, the photographer was taking my picture.
08:35She's like, okay, I gotta go do Jackie Chan.
08:36I was like, Jackie Chan?
08:37She's like, yeah, he's down the hall.
08:38I was like, whoa.
08:39And she's like, do you know him?
08:40I went, no, I don't know Jackie Chan.
08:42And she's like, well, come meet him.
08:44And I was like, great.
08:46So that was it.
08:47And then when I met him, I think he was like, who's this person?
08:50What are we doing?
08:51He was like, here, okay, come on.
08:52I think he thought that I was like a contest winner.
08:55He was like, okay, come on, do a picture real quick.
08:57And then like, okay.
08:59One thing you'll never know because you can't.
09:02The truth.
09:04I suppose I'm moved by this absurd performance.
09:08Time for one last question.
09:11And it's a question we always end every interview with.
09:14And it's, if you could only keep one album for the rest of your life, what would it be?
09:18And why?
09:19I don't know.
09:20It's going to be a very boring answer, but I just can't think.
09:22And I just, you know, I'll say Rubber Soul.
09:25Oh, amazing.
09:26I just love it.
09:28Do you remember when you first heard the album?
09:29Yeah.
09:30I mean, that's what the thing is.
09:31Like, you know, I kind of grew up being like Beatles, whatever, Hard Day's Night.
09:35I didn't care.
09:36And then when I was like 18, I gave like a real, you know, like kind of really listen.
09:41And I started with Rubber Soul.
09:42And I remember like the first track just being like, whoa.
09:45And I think that's just my favorite Beatles album to this day.
09:49And I love it.
09:51Have you ever met a Beatle?
09:52I've never met a Beatle.
09:53Which one?
09:54Ringo or Paul would you rather me?
09:56What an awful question.
09:57I'm sorry.
09:58I realized how awful it was before then.
10:01It's like, they're both good.
10:02Why do you have to choose?
10:03Why would I just like put one of them down?
10:05But Ringo does live in LA.
10:07Okay.
10:08So there's more of a chance that you might just sort of run into him, I think.
10:10That'd be cool.
10:11Yeah.
10:12What would you say to him?
10:13It would be strange to meet a Beatle.
10:14I don't know.
10:15It would be weird to say anything to them.
10:17I mean, they'd be so bored by whatever I had to say.
10:19They've heard it 8 billion times from every person on the planet.
10:22It must be hard to be a Beatle, I think.
10:24Yeah, definitely.
10:25Yeah.
10:26And on that note, I'll end there.
10:27But thanks so much for chatting to me, Mark.
10:28It's been a pleasure.
10:30It's been a pleasure.
10:32Time now.
10:33Syracite panel.
10:34Words for Father.
10:35Take this miserable scene into the comfort of your own mind.
10:37BOOM!
10:38BOOM!
10:39BOOM!
10:41BOOM!
10:42BOOM!
10:43BOOM!
10:44BOOM!
10:45BOOM!
10:47BOOM!
10:48BOOM!
10:49BOOM!
10:50BOOM!
10:51BOOM!
10:52BOOM!
10:53BOOM!
10:54BOOM!
10:55BOOM!
10:56BOOM!
10:57BOOM!
10:58BOOM!
10:59BOOM!
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