Michael Cera Turned Down a ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Meeting: I Didn’t Want to Be ‘Too Famous’

Michael Cera fto his fearfulness of fame dictate his norm against franchises. The “Phoenician Scheme” actor has long voiced his aversion to celebrity, but nan prima is now revealing that he turned down a domiciled successful “Harry Potter” prequel franchise “Fantastic Beasts” because of it.

“I don’t moreover cognize if I was offered, I deliberation I conscionable declined to prosecute pinch it because I deliberation it would beryllium astir apt a six-year committedness aliases something. But also, I did benignant of make a conscientious prime to limit my vulnerability a small bit, aliases conscionable effort and beryllium a small much successful power of it,” Cera said during nan “Louis Theroux Podcast”. “And I felt for illustration doing, particularly small kids’ movies, I had a large fearfulness of doing things that I would get excessively famous.”

“Fantastic Beasts” stars Eddie Redmayne arsenic an master connected magical creatures. Jude Law plays a young Albus Dumbledore who enlists his thief to conclusion Gellert Grindelwald, arsenic played by Johnny Depp and later Mads Mikkelsen for nan 3rd film amid Depp’s firing. The franchise was announced successful 2016 to dwell of 5 films; only 3 person been released, pinch features successful 2016, 2018, and 2022. Law said successful 2024 that nan different franchise installments are astir apt “on hold.”

Meanwhile, Cera has “changed” his mind “a little” astir franchises successful his profession now.

“I deliberation I’ve outgrown that peculiar feeling, but I deliberation that’s what that was astatine that time,” he said. “But if a franchise came on now and seemed interesting, I don’t deliberation connected nan grounds of it being a franchise I would large wind retired of nan agency aliases anything.”

Cera antecedently told The Guardian that by property 19, he contemplated stepping distant from Hollywood for bully owed to his “overwhelming” emergence to fame aft “Juno” and “Superbad,” some of which were released successful 2007. “I didn’t cognize really to grip stepping down nan street,” Cera said. “Fame makes you very uncomfortable successful your ain skin, and makes you paranoid and weird. There were tons of awesome things astir it, and I met a batch of astonishing people, but there’s a batch of bad energies, too, ones that I was not equipped to handle.”

Cera moreover turned down hosting “Saturday Night Live” successful an effort to tame his celeb status. “There was a constituent wherever I wanted to extremity taking jobs that would make maine much famous,” nan character said. “I was benignant of having a spot of a crisis. I was really not enjoying nan level of heat. I really didn’t cognize if I was going to support being an actor.”