The Canadian actor Michael Cera has hands down made a name for himself, standing out from Hollywood's most elite mainstream actors as a result of his fun and distinct format of comedic acting. Starting out his career as a child actor, Michael Cera was the voice of Brother Bear on the children’s television show The Berenstain Bears, not to mention, he portrayed a young Chuck Barris in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. After finding success in numerous early projects, including his wonderful work as one of the best Arrested Development characters, Cera made the seamless transition into a key adult player in Hollywood blockbuster films.

Update August 23, 2023: This list has been updated by Yosra Ben Lagha to include even more great performances by Michael Cera in honor of the release of Barbie.

As the middle child between two sisters (an older sister Jordan and a younger sister Molly), the Tony Award-nominated actor splits most of his time between acting in Hollywood and spending time at home with his family in Brampton, a city in Ontario, Canada. Here is a look at the best performances by Michael Cera.

11 Molly's Game

The true story Molly's Game follows Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain), a young and beautiful Olympic skier who secretly ran one of the world's most exclusive poker games, a decade before being arrested by numerous armed FBI agents in the middle of the night. The list of players ranged from Hollywood stars, professional athletes, business tycoons, and the Russian mob. Despite the fact that the film is primarily centered around Molly, it's the unidentifiable Player X (Cera) who additionally steals the show.

Related: Here's Where the Cast of Superbad is Today

The character of Player X is based on a composite of known celebrity gamblers. While there have been numerous male celebrity names speculated to be the real-life identity of the unknown gambler, there is no way to know for certain who the person actually is. Regardless, Cera is perfect in the role as he plays against hype as an egotistical, selfish, and mean-spirited gambler.

10 Sausage Party

The 2016 comedy adventure film Sausage Party is an animated project that revolves around Frank (Seth Rogen) the sausage, Brenda (Kristen Wiig) the hot dog bun, Teresa Taco (Salma Hayek), and Sammy Bagel Jr. (Edward Norton), a group of talking food items that sit on the shelves of a local supermarket. Michael Cera plays Barry, a deformed sausage who is Frank's best friend and who learns throughout the film to stand up for himself.

Once Frank learns the truth that he will eventually become a meal by one of the store's perspective customers, he warns his friends of their inevitable fate, and the group of perishable items create a plan to escape from the store for good. It's an extremely raunchy adult animated movie, hilarious but also a surprisingly clever look at organized religion.

9 Gloria Bell

Gloria Bell, directed by Sebastián Lelio, tells the story of a free-spirited, divorced woman who decides to live a joyful life dancing in clubs and enjoying her time. A fateful meeting with Arnold, also a divorcee, leads to the birth of an unexpected new romance that goes through ups and downs. Cera plays the role of Peter, one of Gloria's two children, who carefully observes and tries to accept his mother's new relationship. He meets Arnold on his birthday and tries to push through the awkwardness. Even though Cera's role is minor, he delivers an honest and relatable performance that sticks to memory.

8 Youth In Revolt

Youth In Revolt is another one of Michael Cera's romantic comedies in which he proves to be an astounding actor capable of impersonating the vicissitudes of navigating young age. Cera plays Nick Twisp, a literature-loving, rule-abiding good guy who meets and immediately falls in love with a beautiful neighbor named Sheeni.

Unimpressed by his tamed personality, Sheeni rejects Nick, who takes it as a challenge to transform into the kind of guy she would one day say yes to. Cera offers unforgettable funny moments coupled with a romantic zeal through his dazzling acting, giving the romantic comedy genre a personal touch that is uniquely his.

7 The LEGO Batman

The action-adventure animated movie The LEGO Batman, directed by Chris McKay, focuses on Batman opening himself up to the idea of family, and at the center of it is his newly adopted son, Dick Grayson, aka Robin voiced by Michael Cera. Cera delivered an excellent voice acting performance with the right tone and pace to showcase the character's funny, lighthearted and sometimes lonely side.

6 This Is The End

If you ever wanted to know what celebrities would do during a catastrophic world event, this great apocalyptic movie is completely for you. Playing himself in the film, Cera is among the group of celebrity friends who attend a Hollywood party, thrown by actor James Franco. Those in attendance range from Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Michael Cera, Emma Watson, and even Rihanna (who slaps the hell out of Cera).

Related: The Best Times Actors Played Themselves in Movies

While at the party, the world apocalypse becomes a reality, abruptly wreaking havoc on the richest and most celebrated stars. Cera is hilarious in a very brief role, playing a downright horrible celebrity version of himself. This Is The End is one of the best comedies released in the 2010s and showed that Cera was not afraid to make fun of himself.

5 Superbad

Credited as one of Cera's most prominent leading roles, the actor plays Evan in Superbad, a high school senior labeled as a geeky guy who goes on a number of adventures with his best friend Seth (Jonah Hill). Evan and Seth have a deep history of being best friends forever, and they literally do everything together (from carpooling together to eating lunch). On a mission to lose their virginity before going to college, the two attempt to collect enough alcohol for a possible party but later run into trouble once two unskilled cops enter the fray.

While Cera was best known for his role on Arrested Development, Suerpbad truly launched him into A-list status and made him one of the most in-demand stars in the late 2000's. This, coupled with Juno, which hit theaters a few months later, set the template for Cera's early career.

4 Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

Directed by Peter Sollett, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is a romantic comedy filled with dramatic, funny, and heartwarming moments. It follows the story of Nick, a broken-hearted musician who is still obsessing over his ex-girlfriend, Tris. One night, he bumps into Tris's friend Norah who involves him in a romance pretend game that ends up turning into the beginning of a real love story.

Michael Cera's sensational performance and his onscreen chemistry with Kat Dennings give the movie a surreal and gripping allure. This performance shows that Cera might have been known for playing the awkward kid, but he also had what it took to be a romantic leading man.

3 Barbie

Greta Gerwig's newly released blockbuster comedy Barbie is about Barbie and Ken as they ride to the real world and discover what it is to be human. When they come back to Barbieland, Ken tries to overtake it with the help of all the other Lens. In a world of entitled Kens, however, you would always find an Allan, the role played by Cera.

Allan is Ken's friend and is the only one of his kind (some left and became the band NSYNC). He is responsible, sensitive, and completely unsympathetic to Ken's stereotypical behavior of controlling/ conquering a world that clearly belongs to Barbie. Cera is hilarious and the role is a major comeback for the actor, showing why audiences fell in love with him in the first place.

2 Juno

Paulie Bleeker (Cera) is a fellow teenager, and the father of Juno MacGuff's child. Once a young Juno MacGuff becomes pregnant (after engaging in unprotected sex with Bleeker), she chooses a former rock star and his wife to adopt her unborn child. The film Juno explores the scenarios and tough decisions that must be made as a result of teenage pregnancy, yet does so with humor, joy, and ironic detachment, plus has some of the best needle drops in recent movie memory.

1 Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

In Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, the rock band guitarist Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) becomes infatuated with Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), while trying to break up with his current girlfriend Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). As Pilgrim desperately attempts to juggle his relationship with both girls, he also must come face to face with several of the ex-boyfriends of Ramona to ultimately win her heart. What's clear is that the army of guys will do whatever it takes to eliminate Scott from Ramona's list of possible suitors.

The Edgar Wright film might be problematic in 2022 in some ways, but it's still an energetic, delightfully constructed twist on teen rom-coms. In many ways, this was the defining role of Cera's career, as it played off the type of role Cera had become known for but also effectively ending it, as the film deconstructed the nice guy image. From this point on, Cera would take on various roles and tone down the number of movies he was in, but Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was a true milestone in his career and likely will be known as his best role. Cera will reprise his role in the upcoming Netflix anime series.