Jay Baruchel Biography

Jonathan Adam Saunders "Jay" Baruchel (born April 9, 1982) is a Canadian actor and comedian. He has had a successful career in comedy films, appearing in supporting roles in such box office successes as Million Dollar Baby, Knocked Up and Tropic Thunder, and starring in the films She's Out of My League, The Trotsky, How to Train Your Dragon, The Sorcerer's Apprentice and This Is the End.

Early life

Baruchel was born in Ottawa, Ontario, the son of Robyne (née Ropell), a freelance writer, and Serge Baruchel, an antiques dealer. He grew up and still lives in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood of Montreal, Quebec, and has a younger sister, Taylor. His paternal grandfather was a Sephardic Jew, while his three other grandparents were from a Christian background (of French, English, Irish, Scottish, and German descent). Baruchel has said that he is "probably agnostic".

Career

One of his first major acting roles was on local television series My Hometown in 1996. From 1997 to 1998, he co-hosted Popular Mechanics for Kids with Elisha Cuthbert. After appearing briefly in Cameron Crowe's Oscar-winning Almost Famous, Baruchel won the role of Steven Karp on Judd Apatow's acclaimed yet short-lived television series Undeclared, where he starred alongside Seth Rogen, Carla Gallo, Charlie Hunnam, and Monica Keena. He then appeared with James Van Der Beek in Roger Avary's The Rules of Attraction.

In 2004, Baruchel played boxing hopeful Danger Barch in Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby, which received an Oscar for Best Picture the following year. Baruchel was among those thanked by Eastwood during his acceptance speech. Baruchel then starred in Nemesis Game and Fetching Cody, before appearing opposite Don Johnson on the WB's Just Legal in 2005, and guest-starring on CBS's Emmy Award-nominated Numb3rs in 2006.

Baruchel appeared in the films Knocked Up (which reunited him with Judd Apatow, Jason Segel, and Seth Rogen), I'm Reed Fish, Just Buried, and the Ben Stiller-directed Tropic Thunder, alongside Jack Black, Nick Nolte, Steve Coogan and Robert Downey, Jr. He co-starred with Seth Rogen in the 2007 trailer for Jay and Seth vs. The Apocalypse, created by Rogen and Evan Goldberg as a strategy to garner interest and funding for a similar, larger-scale project (later made in 2013 as This Is the End). In 2008, he appeared in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. He also made a brief appearance in Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian.

In 2010, Baruchel starred in the films The Trotsky, She's Out of My League (opposite Alice Eve), and the live-action Disney adaptation of The Sorcerer's Apprentice. He also voiced the starring role in the acclaimed animated feature, How to Train Your Dragon, a role he has subsequently continued throughout the franchise, including its television series. Also in 2010, he played two supporting characters in the Canadian comedy series The Drunk and On Drugs Happy Fun Time Hour. He developed the screenplay for Goon, with Evan Goldberg, playing Johnny Klutz, a character of his own creation. Goon co-stars Seann William Scott and fellow Canadian actor, Eugene Levy. Baruchel will also star in and direct the comedy/horror/slasher film Pig.

Baruchel also appeared in the 2010 Adidas Originals ad campaign, "Cantina", in conjunction with the FIFA World Cup, and in video clips for Canadian prog-rockers Rush's 2012"13 Clockwork Angels tour.

In July 2012, Baruchel appeared in the music video for the song "Toxsik Waltz" by rapper Necro. In the summer of 2013, he starred in the hit post-apocalyptic comedy This Is the End. He is currently set to star in Rebel Kind, based on the memoirs of John Armstrong, the former lead singer for the Vancouver 1980s punk band The Modernettes.

Personal life

Baruchel was previously engaged to actress Alison Pill. He alluded to their breakup in a Twitter posting on February 16, 2013.

He is a fan of the Montreal Canadiens. He has several tattoos: a Celtic cross (on his upper right arm), his mother's maiden name (on his forearm), and a red Maple Leaf on his left pectoral (which can be seen in Fanboys, Knocked Up, and This Is the End).

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Running Home	Kid #2
1999	Who Gets the House?	Jonathan
2000	Almost Famous	Vic Munoz
2002	The Rules of Attraction	Harry
2003	Nemesis Game	Jeremy Curran
2004	Million Dollar Baby	Danger Barch
2005	Fetching Cody	Art Frankel
2007	Knocked Up	Jay
2007	Jay and Seth vs. The Apocalypse	Jay	Short
2007	I'm Reed Fish	Reed Fish
2007	Just Buried	Oliver Whynacht
2008	Real Time	Andy Hayes
2008	Tropic Thunder	Kevin Sandusky
2008	Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist	Tal Hanson
2009	Fanboys	Windows
2009	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian	Joey Motorola	Cameo
2009	Edgar and Jane		Short; also writer, producer and director
2010	She's Out of My League	Kirk Kettner
2010	How to Train Your Dragon	Hiccup (voice)
2010	The Trotsky	Leon
2010	The Sorcerer's Apprentice	Dave Stutler
2010	Good Neighbours	Victor
2011	Goon	Pat	Also writer
2012	Cosmopolis	Shiner
2013	This Is the End	Himself	Also executive producer
2013	The Art of the Steal		Yet to be released
2014	How to Train Your Dragon 2	Hiccup (voice)	Filming
2014	RoboCop	Pope	Yet to be released
2016	How to Train Your Dragon 3	Hiccup (voice)	Pre-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Are You Afraid of the Dark?	Joe	2 episodes
1996	My Hometown	Thomas Thompson
1997	Popular Mechanics for Kids	Himself
1998	The Worst Witch	Bean Pole	1 episode
1999"2000	Are You Afraid of the Dark?	Alex, Ross Doyle, Jason Midas	3 episodes
2001"2002	Undeclared	Steven Karp	17 episodes
2002	Matthew Blackheart: Monster Smasher	Jimmy Fleming
2004	The Stones	Winston Stone	6 episodes
2005"2006	Just Legal	Skip Ross	8 episodes
2006"2007	Numb3rs	Oswald Kittner	2 episodes
2010	The Drunk and On Drugs Happy Fun Time Hour	Private Prosciutto Falcon
2012"present	Dragons: Riders of Berk	Hiccup (voice)
2012	Being Human	Stu	1 episode