Michael Cera Says “There Was No Time To Rehearse” Getting Punched By Annie Murphy in ‘Black Mirror’ Season 6’s “Joan Is Awful”

Black Mirror is finally returning to Netflix after over four years with an all-star cast that includes Michael Cera, Aaron Paul, Annie Murphy, Himesh Patel, Salma Hayek, and more. The sixth season of Charlie Brooker’s dark anthology series teases five “new mindfucks” in what Netflix calls “the most unpredictable, unclassifiable and unexpected” season yet. While on the red carpet at the Tribeca Film Festival, Decider caught up with Cera, who makes his debut into the Black Mirror universe in the first episode of the new season, to discuss his role and introduction to the popular franchise. 

The first episode of the sixth season, titled “Joan is Awful,” shows Murphy as the title character, an average businesswoman who discovers that the global streaming platform Streamberry  — an obvious spoof of Netflix — has released a television adaptation about her life, in which she is played by Hollywood’s own Salma Hayek.

The fictional show sparks conflicts in Joan’s life as Streamberry exposes her secrets. Eventually, she unites with Salma to figure out how to put an end to the series and they go to the place where it all started: the Streamberry headquarters. 

There, they find Michael Cera as a frazzled control room operator. As Michael tries to explain the situation – which is a brilliant twist on the multiverse –  to Joan and Salma, the two grow confused and angry. At one point, Salma threatens to break his arm and looms over him yielding an axe – but Joan is the one to really shake him up. When he is unable to thoroughly answer the duo’s questions, Joan sneers her lips and punches him, effectively shutting him up. His unconscious body then spins around in his office chair as Salma proclaims, “Thank god! He was so boring!”

At the Tribeca Film Festival’s premiere of The Adults, which stars Cera, Hannah Gross and Sophia Lillis, Decider asked Cera what it was like to be punched by the wonderful and incredibly talented Murphy. “It was fantastic,” he said. “We just jumped in and did it. There was no time to rehearse anything. It was just all very fast, fast, fast.”

The actor said that he has yet to see the episode but is happy to be making an appearance in the popular series. “I was only on set for one or two days. The woman who directed the episode was Ally Pankiw and she was incredible – amazing. I was so excited to work with her and I think she’s done a lot of great stuff. I really do.”

The five new episodes of Black Mirror premiered June 15, 2023 on Netflix with “Joan is Awful,” “Loch Henry,” “Beyond the Sea,” “Mazey Day” and “Demon 79″. Cera’s performance in the season precedes his busy summer as he will grace the big screen in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Dustin Guy Defa’s indie comedy The Adults, which follows the actor as Eric, a normal guy returning home to visit his two sisters with whom he has a complicated relationship with — all while he proving to his small town that he’s the best poker player around.

The Adults is set to be released in theaters on August 18, 2023.