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Jay Baruchel
Jay Baruchel Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst 2014 crop.jpg
Baruchel at Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst, 2014
Born
Jonathan Adam Saunders Baruchel

(1982-04-09) April 9, 1982 (age 42)
Occupation Actor, producer, writer
Years active 1995–present
Spouse(s)
Rebecca-Jo Dunham
(m. 2019)

Jonathan Adam Saunders Baruchel (/ˈbærəʃɛl/; born April 9, 1982) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his voice role as Hiccup Haddock in the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, and for his roles in comedy movies such as Knocked Up (2007), Tropic Thunder (2008), Fanboys (2009), She's Out of My League (2010), Goon (2011), This Is the End (2013), and the action-fantasy film The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010). He had lead roles as Steven Karp in Judd Apatow's comedy series Undeclared (2001–2002) and Josh Greenberg in the FXX comedy series Man Seeking Woman (2015–2017).

Baruchel had a lead role as BlackBerry co-founder Mike Lazaridis in the black comedy film, BlackBerry (2023).

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 in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood of Montréal, Quebec, and has a younger sister. His father was born in Paris, France. Baruchel is of one-quarter Jewish descent, with the rest of his ancestry being French and Irish-Catholic. He has stated that he believes his Irish roots are from County Mayo.

Career

JayBaruchel08TIFF
Baruchel pictured at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival

Baruchel got his first acting job when he was just 12. One of his first major acting roles was on the 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 film 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. 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 the CBS drama 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 versus 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, DreamWorks' 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. ..... 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 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.

America Ferrara and Jay Baruchel, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst 2014
Baruchel and his How to Train Your Dragon co-star America Ferrera signing autographs during a USO tour on June 4, 2014, at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst

In July 2012, he appeared in the music video for the song "Toxsik Waltz" by rapper Necro. In the summer of 2013, he starred in the hit apocalyptic comedy This Is the End and in 2014, he appeared in the RoboCop remake and reprised his role as Hiccup in How to Train Your Dragon 2.

In July 2014, it was announced that Baruchel would be starring in the FXX comedy Man Seeking Woman which premiered in January 2015. He also appeared in the 2015 music video for the song "Every Little Means Trust" by Idlewild.

Baruchel was also involved in writing the Chapterhouse comic book series Captain Canuck.

Baruchel wrote, directed, and starred in the 2017 sports comedy film Goon: Last of the Enforcers, the sequel to the 2011 film Goon.

In 2018, he made his debut as an author, with Born Into It: A Fan's Life, released on Harper Collins. The book explored his love of the Montreal Canadiens with anecdotes, childhood memories, and heartfelt tales about his life as a fan of the team.

After the release of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, 2019 saw Baruchel star in the Danish film The Kindness of Strangers and the Canadian horror film Random Acts of Violence, which was his second film as a director.

In 2021, Baruchel hosted the original audio podcast documentary series for Audible.ca, Highly Legal, that explored the political and economic history and aftermath of Canada's legalization of .... In the same year, Baruchel and his wife, Rebecca-Jo Dunham, both appeared in the music video for "Ouch", the lead single from The Tragically Hip's archival EP Saskadelphia. He was also named host of LOL: Last One Laughing Canada, which premiered on February 18, 2022 on Amazon Prime Video. He appears in the seventh episode of The Kids in the Hall revival.

In 2022, Baruchel hosted the Crave original series We're All Gonna Die (Even Jay Baruchel), a six-episode docuseries about the end of the world that explored potential world-ending risks. Baruchel, as host, met with scientists and other experts to discuss the feasibility of the risks and the potential solutions and innovations to counter the issues.

Personal life

Baruchel was engaged to actress Alison Pill from 2011 to 2013. He alluded to their break-up in a Twitter post on February 16, 2013. In May 2018, Baruchel announced his engagement to his girlfriend Rebecca-Jo Dunham. They were married on September 21, 2019, in Portugal. Baruchel has said that he is "probably agnostic".

Baruchel has several tattoos: a Celtic cross (on his upper right arm) to honour his Irish heritage, and a red Maple Leaf on his left pectoral, which can be seen in Fanboys, Knocked Up, Tropic Thunder, and This Is the End.

Baruchel is a supporter of Scottish football club Celtic since the early 2000s, and in 2016 co-produced a documentary detailing his journey towards falling in love with the club.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1999 Running Home Kid #2
Who Gets the House? Jonathan
2000 Almost Famous Vic Munoz
2002 Edgar and Jane N/A Short film
Director
Writer
Producer
The Rules of Attraction Harry
2003 Nemesis Game Jeremy Curran
2004 Million Dollar Baby Danger Barch
2005 Fetching Cody Art Frankel
2006 I'm Reed Fish Reed Fish
2007 Knocked Up Jay
Jay and Seth versus the Apocalypse Himself Short film
Writer
Just Buried Oliver Whynacht
2008 Real Time Andy Hayes
Tropic Thunder Kevin Sandusky
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Tal Hanson
2009 Fanboys Windows
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Sailor Joey Motorola
The Trotsky Leon
2010 She's Out of My League Kirk Kettner
How to Train Your Dragon Hiccup (voice)
The Sorcerer's Apprentice Dave Stutler
Good Neighbours Victor
Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon Hiccup (voice) Short film
2011 Goon Pat Writer
Producer
Book of Dragons Hiccup (voice) Short film
Gift of the Night Fury
2012 Cosmopolis Shiner
The Watchmaker Tax man Short film
2013 This Is the End Himself Co-producer
The Art of the Steal Francie
2014 RoboCop Tom Pope
Don Peyote Bates
How to Train Your Dragon 2 Hiccup (voice)
Dawn of the Dragon Racers Short film
2016 Lovesick Mark
2017 Goon: Last of the Enforcers Pat Director
Writer
2019 How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Hiccup (voice)
The Kindness of Strangers John
Random Acts of Violence Ezra Director
Writer
Producer
2023 BlackBerry Mike Lazaridis
2024 Humane Jared York

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1995, 1999–2000 Are You Afraid of the Dark? Joe / Alex / Ross Doyle / Jason Midas 4 episodes
1996–1998 My Hometown Thomas Thompson Main role
1997–2001 Popular Mechanics for Kids Himself
1998 The Worst Witch Bean Pole Episode: "The Great Outdoors"
2001–2002 Undeclared Steven Karp Main role
2002 Matthew Blackheart: Monster Smasher Jimmy Fleming Television film
2004 The Stones Winston Stone 6 episodes
2005–2006 Just Legal Skip Ross 8 episodes
2006–2007 Numb3rs Oswald Kittner 2 episodes
2011 The ... and ... Happy Fun Time Hour Private Prosciutto / Falcon 2 episodes
2012–2018 DreamWorks Dragons Hiccup (voice) Main role
2012 Being Human Stu Episode: "When I Think About You I Shred Myself"
2014 Trailer Park Boys N/A Directed Episode: "Crawling Through the Shitpipe"
2015–2017 Man Seeking Woman Josh Greenberg Main role
2018 Letterkenny "Hard Right" Jay 2 episodes
The Magic School Bus Rides Again Dr. Tillage (voice) Episode: "Ghost Farm"
2019 The Moodys Sean Moody Jr. Main role
How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming Hiccup (voice)
2019–20 Trailer Park Boys: The Animated Series ...

(voice)

2 episodes
2022 LOL: Last One Laughing Canada Host
Son of a Critch N/A Director
The Kids in the Hall Smoker Episode 7
We're All Gonna Die (Even Jay Baruchel) Self Main role
2023 Son of a Critch Scott Howell Episode "Pope Visit"
2023–present FUBAR Carter Perlmutter Main role

Music videos

Year Band Song Notes Ref
2022 Alexisonfire "Sweet Dreams of Otherness" Director

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Result
2007 US Comedy Arts Festival Best Actor Award I'm Reed Fish Won
2010 Canadian Comedy Awards Best Performance by a Male – Film The Trotsky Won
2011 Annie Awards Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production How to Train Your Dragon Won
Genie Awards Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role The Trotsky Nominated
Jutra Awards Best Actor (Meilleur Acteur) Won
Vancouver Film Critics Circle Best Actor in a Canadian Film Nominated
2013 Canadian Screen Awards Adapted Screenplay (shared with Evan Goldberg) Goon Nominated
Vancouver Film Critics Circle Best Supporting Actor in a Canadian Film Nominated
2014 Canadian Screen Awards Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role The Art of the Steal Nominated
MTV Movie Awards Best Musical Moment This Is the End Won
2019 ACTRA Award Award of Excellence N/A Won
Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program Dragons: Race to the Edge: Season 6 Won
2024 Canadian Screen Awards Best Lead Performance in a Comedy Film BlackBerry Won
Canadian Screen Awards Performance in a guest role in a comedy series Son of a Critch Nominated

See also

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