Michael Cera breaks down his ‘The Phoenician Scheme’ twist

This article contains spoilers for The Phoenician Scheme.

Will the real Agent Karlsen please stand up?

One of the biggest surprises in writer-director Wes Anderson’s newest film, The Phoenician Scheme, revolves around Michael Cera’s character, Bjorn. First introduced as a kooky Norwegian bug enthusiast, tutor, and sort of assistant to Benicio del Toro’s business tycoon Zsa-zsa Korda, Bjorn’s true identity is later revealed in a third-act twist — he’s really Agent Karlsen of the Covert North American Special Services. His mission is to infiltrate (but not sabotage, no, never sabotage!) Zsa-zsa’s operation. Like his alter ego, though, he really does have an affinity for insects and Zsa-zsa’s daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton).

“I guess that the turn to Agent Karlsen was sort of more or less informed by the front half of the character being Bjorn, because it just had to be a big contrast created,” he tells Entertainment Weekly. “So creating Bjorn was the biggest job, and it’s weird because he is, I mean, the truth of the character is that he’s Agent Karlsen pretending to be this Professor Bjorn. But it actually feels more to me like Bjorn is the real guy.”

So much so that when Anderson would refer to Cera as Karlsen on set, he didn’t even respond.

“When we were shooting, Wes would often, if he’s back behind his monitor somewhere and he had to call out to us to readjust us or something in the frame, he would say, ‘Bjorn, go to the left a little.’ And I would always respond to that,” Cera says. “And then when I was doing scenes as Agent Karlsen, he would say, ‘Agent Karlsen, move over.’ And I wouldn’t hear him addressing me, and so he would be not able to get my attention, and then he would go, ‘Bjorn!’ Then I would hear him.”

Cera wasn’t even aware he was doing this until Anderson pointed it out to him later on.

“He went, ‘You only respond when I call you Bjorn,'” he recalls. “I didn’t even realize it, but I just got so used to that, I guess. So, that was funny.”

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Cera has a theory about why this was the case. The actor worked closely with his director to perfect the faux Norwegian accent, perfectly coiffed hair, and over-prescribed glasses that make up Bjorn, before figuring out those same elements for Karlsen. As a result, much of the latter was informed by the former.

“[Crafting Bjorn] felt like the bigger piece in a way. There was more to build there because there’s a whole voice — and Agent Karlsen has a voice too — but Bjorn had the accent, which just took a lot of preparation work, and creating the look for Bjorn was where our focus was,” Cera explains. “And then, I didn’t even get [to create Karlsen’s] hair. We had to do Bjorn’s hair first, even the days when I would just be Agent Karlsen, we’d kind of do the hair as Bjorn first and then change it.”

Now that the film, which also stars Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Mathieu Amalric, Jeffrey Wright, and Scarlett Johansson, is out in the world, Cera is able to talk about all facets of his dual role.

“I think the movie is not that secretive, where it’s like, it’s not a precious secret, but I think the movie unfolds and reveals itself in really a fun way,” he says. “I think it’s a fun experience as a viewer, I hope.”