Michael Cera Reveals He Almost Quit Acting After ‘Superbad’ and ‘Juno’ Fame: I Was Having a 'Crisis'

The actor says he was “paranoid” and “uncomfortable” with his sudden celebrity status at age 19

Michael Cera didn't love all of the attention Superbad and Juno brought him in 2007.

“I didn’t know how to handle walking down the street,” Cera recalled of that period in a recent interview with The Guardian. “Fame makes you very uncomfortable in your own skin, and makes you paranoid and weird. There were lots of great things about it, and I met a lot of amazing people, but there’s a lot of bad energies, too, ones that I was not equipped to handle.”

Cera, 35, who was 19 when Superbad was released, added “When you’re a kid, people also feel they can kind of grab you — they’re not that respectful of you or your physical space.”

“You know, if people are drunk, and they recognize you, and they’re very enthusiastic, but it can be kind of toxic too,” he continued, adding “it was a mistake” to join his friends at a bar the weekend the film hit theaters. “It was like a burning feeling the whole time, just like everybody was so aware of me.”

“There was a point where I wanted to stop taking jobs that would make me more famous,” Cena said, who turned down the chance to host Saturday Night Live around that time, per The Guardian. “I was kind of having a bit of a crisis,” he recalled. “I was really not enjoying the level of heat.”

“I really didn’t know if I was going to keep being an actor,” the actor added.

In February, Cera opened up about why he made a "conscious choice" not to have a smartphone.

"I feel a bit of fear about it honestly like I'd really lose control of my waking life," he told The Hollywood Reporter.

Related: Michael Cera on How Fatherhood Has Changed His Approach to Work: 'You Want to Be with Your Family'

“I had lunch with a friend of mine who was my best friend at the time, and he'd just gotten a Blackberry, and for the whole meal he was typing emails, and I was sat there lonely and bored. So I had an early aversion to them," Cera said.

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The actor went on to tell THR that "a lot of people'' tell him they're envious of his choice, sharing, “For many years, people resented me for this lifestyle choice. But now people say that they envy it."

The Arrested Development star also talked about his lack of social media presence, noting "it's very possible" it’s impacted his career.

Related: Aubrey Plaza Almost ‘Spontaneously’ Wed — and Divorced —Michael Cera Just to Call Him Her Ex-Husband

"I mean, I'm definitely not holding any sway in that category,” he shared. “So if that's an important thing I think I wouldn't be considered."

Cera — who has a 3-year-old son — has mainly kept his relationships and family life private, telling The Hollywood Reporter that he shies away from the spotlight.

"I think when you get really famous, you're just like a magnet to people," he said. "And all kinds of people come up to you, and I just can't handle it. I'm not really cut out for that level of interaction with so many different types. I don't have a strong enough personality for that."

Cera stars in Barbie, which opens in theaters on Friday.

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