The most reluctant movie star of his generation keeps accidentally becoming relevant again.
At a glance
- Known for
- George Michael Bluth on Arrested Development, Superbad, Juno, Allan in Barbie
- Before fame
- Memorized all of Ghostbusters during a chicken pox marathon at age three
- Off-screen
- Touring bassist for indie rock supergroup Mister Heavenly
Rise to Fame
A three-year-old with chicken pox watched Ghostbusters on repeat until he memorized the entire script. Twelve years later, that kid was playing George Michael Bluth on Arrested Development, a show too smart for its own ratings that got cancelled after three seasons. The cancellation didn't matter. Superbad and Juno hit within months of each other in 2007, and suddenly he owned a very specific corner of Hollywood: the guy who can't make eye contact.
The problem was that he couldn't make eye contact offscreen either. He's said the fame left him "paranoid and weird," and at 19 he nearly quit acting entirely. He turned down Saturday Night Live. Most actors would've milked the moment. He wanted out of it.
In the Spotlight
His agent turned down the role of Allan in Barbie. He emailed Greta Gerwig directly and asked for it anyway. That instinct paid off: the film made $1.4 billion worldwide, and his Allan became a fan-favorite meme. The CeraVe Super Bowl campaign, where he pretended to have invented the skincare brand, earned 9 billion impressions before kickoff.
None of this looks like a traditional comeback because he never really left. He did three Kenneth Lonergan plays on Broadway, earned a Tony nomination for Lobby Hero, and kept taking odd roles in films most people skipped. His turn in Wes Anderson's The Phoenician Scheme drew what one critic called "his best work to date." Now he's writing and directing his own feature. The awkward kid runs things from the side of the room.
Side Notes
He dropped a 19-track solo album on Bandcamp in 2014 with zero promotion. Jonah Hill tweeted about it, which is the only reason anyone noticed. Before that, he'd been touring as the bassist for Mister Heavenly, an indie rock group featuring members of Modest Mouse, The Unicorns, and Man Man, and contributing mandolin to a Weezer record. The music isn't a vanity project. It's the thing he does when nobody's watching.
He met his wife Nadine at a bar in Paris during an Arrested Development press tour. They keep their family life almost entirely out of public view, raising two sons. He was reportedly an early investor in a Mexican dive bar in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, which tracks for someone who'd rather be pouring drinks than doing press.