Jay Baruchel began acting at age 12 when he landed a job on the Nickelodeon hit television series "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" — transforming what was to be a one-time guest appearance into a recurring role. The role was a springboard for his career, leading to his first Canadian series, "My Hometown." He then made his debut to American audiences as the star of the critically acclaimed Judd Apatow television series "Undeclared" on Fox.
Jay Baruchel was more recently seen in Sony's "Robocop" opposite of Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman and Michael Keaton, and opposite Kurt Russell and Matt Dillon in the heist film "The Art of the Steal," which premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival and earned him a Best Supporting Actor nomination at this year's Canadian Screen Awards. Additionally, Baruchel starred in and executive produced the film adaptation of Stephen King's short story "The Ten O'Clock People," and he starrd in FX's comedy pilot "Man Seeking Woman."
Baruchel previously starred opposite Seth Rogen, James Franco and Jonah Hill in Sony's hit comedy "This Is the End," a feature length film based on a short film that he completed with Rogen, "Jay and Seth vs. the Apocalypse." He also was seen in the hockey comedy "Goon," which he co-wrote with Evan Goldberg, produced and starred in opposite Sean William Scott and Liev Schreiber. The film premiered to rave reviews at the Toronto Film Festival, and Baruchel was nominated for two 2013 Canadian Screen Awards in the Best Supporting Actor category and for Adapted Screenplay. He was also seen in David Cronenberg's "Cosmopolis" opposite Robert Pattinson, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival. Both films made the Toronto Film Festival's top film list of 2012. He adapted the book "Baseballismo," written by Dave Bidini, into a screenplay; he has adapted the graphic novel "Random Acts of Violence" for Kickstart Entertainment; and also worked on a sequel to "Goon."
Previously, Baruchel was seen in the Bruckheimer Films/Disney feature "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," directed by Jon Turtletaub, in which he starred as the "Apprentice" opposite Nicolas Cage. He also was seen in Paramount's romantic comedy "She's Out of My League," and DreamWorks Animation's Academy Award-nominated animated feature, "How to Train Your Dragon," as the lead voice of Hiccup. Baruchel won a 2011 Annie Award for his voice work on the film. He also was seen starring in "Good Neighbors," which premiered at the 2010 Toronto Film Festival.
Roles in the Academy Award-winning movie "Million Dollar Baby" opposite Clint Eastwood, Hillary Swank and Morgan Freeman and the blockbuster hit "Tropic Thunder" opposite Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr., garnered Baruchel much praise for his versatility. He has also been lauded for his starring role in Jacob Tierney's comedy "The Trotsky," which premiered at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival to rave reviews. Baruchel received a Genie Award Lead Actor nomination for his performance.
Baruchel has a long list of additional feature credits, including "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist" opposite Michael Cera and Kat Dennings; "Knocked Up" opposite Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl; "Just Buried," which premiered at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival; "Real Time" opposite Randy Quaid, and in the memorable role of Vic Munoz, the obsessed Led Zeppelin fan in "Almost Famous."
20th Century Fox