Michael Cera, a pre-historic sidekick in "Year One"

CEBU, Philippines - He has become one of the most sought-after actors in the Hollywood business. After garnering major critical acclaim for his portrayal of George-Michael Bluth in the Emmy Award® winning Fox series “Arrested Development,” Michael Cera quickly found himself amongst the young comedy elite when Judd Apatow cast him as the lead in the hit film, “Superbad.” 

Now, Cera stars opposite Jack Black in Columbia Pictures’ new comedy “Year One” from director Harold Ramis (“Ghostbusters”) and producer Judd Apatow (“The 40-Year-Old Virgin”).

In the film, a couple of lazy hunter-gatherers, Zed (Black) and Oh (Cera), are banished from their primitive village. Destined for greatness, they set off on an epic road trip through the ancient world…to change the course of history.  And evolve into heroes!

“Oh is taken along on the journey by Zed,” notes Cera.  “He definitely doesn’t believe everything that Zed says and is forced to put up with Zed’s theories about life.  All of which leads to a lot of trouble for Oh.”

Together, Zed and Oh, exiled from their village, begin their excellent adventure.  In their own way, Oh and Zed travel through history and meet some of the ancient world’s most famous residents: Cain and Abel, Abraham and Isaac, and the denizens of the city of Sodom.

“I’d seen Michael on ‘Arrested Development’ playing a lovable innocent,” says Ramis.  “Then I saw ‘Superbad’ and he was still sweet and innocent, but in the most profane setting you can imagine.  He combines a lovely intelligence with an amazing delicacy.  I love what he brings to this character.”

For his part, Cera wouldn’t imagine passing on the opportunity to work with Ramis.  “I love Harold’s work,” Cera relates.  “The thought of working with him was really exciting.  He’s been a big influence on my life.”

“One of the great pleasures of working on this film was watching Jack Black and Michael Cera work,” says Apatow.  “Individually they are two of my all time favorite comic actors, but observing them as they developed this amazing chemistry was something very special.”

When it came to hair and make-up for “Year One,” no actor had it tougher than Cera.  For starters, his close-cropped cut is covered with a long, shaggy wig.  “I’m definitely not used to having long hair,” he says. “It was in my face and got in my mouth all the time. And if I had a bagel with cream cheese, the hair would just stick there… it was disgusting.”

But the hair was the least of Cera’s troubles. “It was tough to get the wig glued on every day, but getting painted gold was much, much worse. Getting painted gold was the most uncomfortable thing I’ve ever done for a job,” Cera says. “It was awful.  And it took forever to get it off – I’d take several showers and then still see gold on my ankles. I couldn’t lift my arms above my shoulders or it would feel like I was ripping my skin off at the armpits. It was excruciating. There’s another point in the movie where I’m hanging upside down; I thought that was bad, but I’d do that in a heartbeat over getting painted gold again.”

Opening soon across the Philippines, “Year One” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.  Visit www.sonypictures.com.ph to see the latest trailers, get free downloads and play free movie games through the ancient world…to change the course of history, evolving into heroes.