Michael Cera 'surprised' at his amount of screen time in The Phoenician Scheme
Michael Cera got the "biggest surprise" when he realised how much screen time he had in The Phoenician Scheme.
The 36-year-old actor stars as Norwegian entomologist Bjorn in Wes Anderson's new film that centres on industrialist Zsa Zsa Korda (Benicio Del Toro), who, after surviving one another assassination attempts, names his daughter Liesl (Mia Threapleton) as his sole heir rather than his eight sons, and Michael admitted that it was a unexpected "thrill" to get to be in it for the whole thing.
He told Entertainment Weekly: "The biggest surprise — when Wes sent me the script — I didn't expect to be along for the whole ride.
"And that was thrilling to get to watch Wes basically make this whole movie."
The Barbie star also relished in getting the chance to work with the famed director as well as his co-stars.
He added: "To collaborate with people like Wes and Benicio and Mia and watch them do their thing and watch the movie come together, it's very gratifying.
"It was nice to be along for the whole production with them."
Michael also explained that he wanted to make sure he delivered the "great material" in the best way possible but also felt as if he had the chance to "work away" at it on set unti he got it right.
He added: "You just get one chance to make this movie, and want to make sure you deliver on the great material that Wes has created.
"It's really good material. I think that's the challenge in a way: You just want to make sure you nail it. But working with Wes, you work away at it until you do feel good. He's very relentless in that pursuit. So then you feel confident as an actor that you're going to get it. You're working with someone that's not going to move on until it's in there."
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