Jay Baruchel stays grounded
Jay Baruchel isn’t a stubborn guy exactly. Let’s call him determined. He was determined to stay based in his beloved Montreal and still have a Hollywood career, and he has done both with positive results. Postmedia News’ Bob Thompson reveals four other t
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HE’S MULTI- FACETED
Not many actors could make the voice transition from kid to young adult, but Baruchel does with Hiccup in How to Train Your Dragon 2. Fellow Canadian and Dragon 2 director Dean DeBlois marvelled at his talents. “He’s such a perfect model of shared attributes,” DeBlois said. “He’s got the energy and talent to do anything he wants.”
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HE’S A TRULY DEVOTED MONTREAL CANADIENS FAN
His buddy Seth Rogen said that Baruchel made a wardrobe item one of his demands if he was going to act in Rogen’s comedy This Is The End. “Jay really wanted to wear the Canadiens hat he has on at the start of ( This Is The End), so he got his way,” said Rogen. When the Canadiens hockey team is eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs, he stops watching hockey. “What’s the point?” he said during an interview.
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DESPITE APPEARANCES IN R- RATED COMEDIES, HE’S BECOME KID- FRIENDLY
His Hiccup role has attracted a younger fan base. In a way, Baruchel has come full circle. He started out co- hosting Popular Mechanics For Kids with Elisha Cuthbert in 1997. He also played the kid obsessed with Led Zeppelin showing up at unlikely places in Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous.
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HE’S AN ACTOR WITH ASSORTED TASTES
Although the live- action version of the Disney cartoon, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, didn’t do so well with critics or at the box office, Baruchel has fond memories of filming the movie in New York with his childhood idol Nicolas Cage. “I had plenty of opportunities to geek out on that,” said Baruchel. “More than anything, I liked the conversations we had and the impressions I would do of him.”