Michael Cera is best known for the particular schtick of playing “the awkward guy” in comedic material. He’s basically made a career out of it, from Arrested Development to Superbad to Juno and more or less in Scott Pilgrim, but it looks like he’ll be stepping out of his comfort zone a bit with his next movie.

That’s because ShowBlitz tells us that the quirky Canadian will next star in the indie thriller Magic, Magic, which is described as being an indie thriller. The plot description is as follows:

“Pic revolves around a girl vacationing with her friends in a remote area of Chile who slowly starts losing her mental faculties; she tries to get her friends’ attention, but they ignore her until it’s too late.”

Sebastian Silva (The Maid) will direct the project and back in February, Cedar Rapids director Miguel Arterta told The Playlist that Cera will learn Spanish for this film: “He’s gonna do a movie with him in Chile. He’s spending five hours a day learning Spanish. He follows his own heart.” While we don’t know if the entire film will be in Spanish, it certainly is a departure for the actor.

From the plot, it sounds like standard genre fare, but I am intrigued by the casting here. That’s mostly due to the fact that I’m not entirely sure how his performance will come across in the movie. He can play comedic well (and even some dramatic), but horror? That’s a whole other game. There’s always the possibility that he’ll be a comic relief of sorts, but even then, it should require him to stretch his acting ability a bit. I have faith in the guy, if only because I like him a lot, so it’s got my vote for the time being.

Are you curious about Cera taking on a different role than the kind we usually see from him?