YouTube comedy collective JASH premiered on Monday Canadian actor Michael Cera’s directorial debut “Brazzaville Teen-Ager,” a dramatic short film that represents a slight — keyword: slight — departure from the “Arrested Development” star’s endearingly awkward shtick.
The story of a boy who must aid his ailing father, the film — billed as a dramedy — is based on a 1960s short story by Bruce Jay Friedman, who collaborated with Cera on the screenplay. Also featured in the film is R&B star Kelis, as well as Jack O’Connell from the UK iteration of TV’s young adult drama “Skins.” Watch “Brazzaville Teen-Ager” below.
Another departure for Cera is his portrayal of himself in comedy raunchfest “This is the End,” whose writer-directors Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen screened some hilarious footage at CinemaCon. In the movie, a large ensemble play versions of themselves facing the apocalypse, including Cera, Rogen, Emma Watson, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Jay Baruchel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Mindy Kaling, Kevin Hart and Danny McBride. Let’s just say that some of them don’t make it.
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