The teenage rom-com Youth in Revolt opens tomorrow, and—stop the presses!—its leading man, Michael Cera, does not play an awkward, angst-ridden nebbish (a.k.a. the same character Cera has played in every single fucking movie he's done since playing the same role in Arrested Development). Well actually, Cera does play an awkward, angst-ridden nebbish in YIR, it's just that he also plays said nebbish's rakish French alter ego, Francois Dillinger. Michael Cera as something other than a male waif who faints every time he hears the opening chords to Shins songs? What's next, a caricature-free Tyler Perry project?
Anyway, we're real happy for Michael because a) we won't feel such a strong urge to punch him in the tits the next time we see him; and b) alter egos are a ton of fun. How else can folks blow up credit card companies and find TP for their bunghole? In honor of MC stretching his acting chops, we present the 10 Coolest TV & Movie Alter Egos...
#10. Stephen Colbert & Esteban Colberto
• Esteban is one of a few of Colbert's alter egos (including Wilfred Brimley and Ching Chong Ding Dong), and the host of the Colberto Reporto Gigante. Not surprisingly, Colberto specializes in immigration issues, and illustrates one of the greatest advantages of alter egos: they take the fall for all the effed-up things you do!
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#9. DuckTales: Fenton Crackshell & GizmoDuck
• Fenton is Scrooge McDuck's accountant in the animated series DuckTales, who becomes GizmoDuck when he stumbles upon a robot suit that happens to be activated when he utters his own catch-oath "blathering blatherskite." GizmoDuck does double duty as McDuck's bodyguard, which is really a shame, 'cause if we had duck superpowers we'd off that rich little mallard and dive into his pool of gold coins our own damn selves.
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#8. The Nutty Professor: Prof. Sherman Klump & Buddy Love
• The lovable but slightly heavy academic Sherman Klump develops a formula that turns him into the svelte, Dave Chappelle-destroying Buddy Love. Alas, Buddy turns out to be certifiably crazy, turning off the very woman Sherman hopes to attract.
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#7. The Mask: Stanley Ipkiss & The Mask
• Luckless bank clerk Stanley Ipkiss becomes crime-fighting, wise-cracking superhero "The Mask" after donning apair of sockswooden mask he discovers at the city's harbor. Not to be confused with Jason Voorhees who would probably stab people up even without his mask.
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#6. South Park: Butters & Professor Chaos
• The pleasantly cheerful Butters got kicked out of SP's Gang of Four, only to seek a measure of revenge as the (you guessed it) chaos-seeking supervillain Professor Chaos. Sadly, Chaos has yet to exact retribution against Butters' primary nemesis, Cartman.
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#5. Andy Kaufman & Tony Clifton
• The legendary comedian Andy Kaufman created Tony Clifton as his audience-bashing lounge singer alter ego, who was famously kicked off the set of the TV show Taxi (on which Kaufman starred) for showing up drunk to the set. Occasionally played by Kaufman's brother as well as fellow comedian Bob Zmuda, Clifton was the obnoxious yin to Kaufman's own awkward yang.
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#4. Fight Club: narrator & Tyler Durden
• The unnamed narrator in Fight Club leads an emotionally vacant life until he meets soap salesmen Tyler Durden. The pair form Project Mayhem, a fight club dedicated to channeling aggression and anti-capitalism, but Durden soon takes over and moves the group in evermore dangerous directions. Of course it turns out that (MAJOR FUCKING SPOILER ALERT) Durden and the narrator are the same person. Confused? It's a metaphor for our times! Or, better yet, it's a blueprint for kids that want to blow up Starbucks (now that's a role for Michael Cera!)!
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#3. Family Matters: Steve Urkel & Stefan Urquelle
• In the classic nerd fantasy, Urkel downs a magic potion that turns him into his suave alter ego Stefan Urquelle. Laura, the apple of ol' Steve's eye, is at first taken with the smooth-talking Stefan, only to wish for the return of dorky-ass Steve. Funny, nobody ever pines for the old us after we've been sipping the magic potion.
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#2. Star Wars: Anakin Skywalker & Darth Vader
• Yes, pops used to make us shave his gerbils when he drank too many Schaefers and got in one of his "dark" moods, but he had nothing on Luke Skywalker's old man. Once a promising Jedi, Anakin Skywalker turned to the dark side, developed respiratory problems, and did a whole host of evil shit, only to have the spell broken when he needed to save his son's life. By the time he died AK was a pretty nasty looking old man, but we might make the alter ego plunge to the dark side ourselves (pause) if it meant having the ability to choke people out just by thinking about it.
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#1: Beavis & Butthead: Beavis & Cornholio
• Sugar is a helluva drug, just ask Beavis. After partaking of too much of the hard white, the Beav becomes inhabited by Cornholio, a t-shirt neck-stretching toilet paper fiend from Lake Titicaca. Yet another benefit of a good alter ego: they're great ways to pursue those hobbies (bungholes, etc.) that you may be too embarrassed to take up in your "straight" life.
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