When auditioning for the part of Fogell in his film debut
Superbad, he had no professional
headshots and instead took one with his camera phone. Because he was 17 at the time and still a minor, his mother was required by law to be on set while he filmed his sex scene in the movie. In 2008, Mintz-Plasse next appeared with
Paul Rudd and
Seann William Scott in
David Wain's film
Role Models as Augie Farques, a nerdy teenager obsessed with medieval live-action role-playing games. He also made a small guest appearance on an episode of David Wain's internet series,
Wainy Days. He then starred in
Harold Ramis's film
Year One, as a comedic version of the biblical figure
Isaac. He also appeared in a short film
The Tale of RJ which became the basis for the television series
The Hard Times of RJ Berger. The next year, he voiced Fishlegs in the animated film
How to Train Your Dragon. In April 2010, he appeared in
Kick-Ass as the superhero Red Mist, a.k.a. Chris D'Amico, which was planned to be a minor role until director
Matthew Vaughn saw Mintz-Plasse audition and his capabilities. Mintz-Plasse originally auditioned for the role of Kick-Ass, but when the producers believed that his acting was too loud and obnoxious, they granted him the role of Red Mist instead. In May 2010, he guest-starred in an episode of
Party Down as Kent, a friend of the character Roman. He performed his second voice-over that month in the film
Marmaduke, as the stylized dog Giuseppe. The same year he was featured in two music videos,
Kid Cudi's "
Erase Me", featuring
Kanye West, and the indie rock band
The Soft Pack's "Answer to Yourself". '' at the
Deauville American Film Festival in 2011 In 2011, Mintz-Plasse appeared in
Fright Night—a remake of the
1985 film—as Edward Lee, former best friend of Charley Brewster, played by
Anton Yelchin. At first he was reluctant to accept the role as it was a remake, but he accepted after reading the script and seeing the talent involved. In 2012, he voiced the bullying student Alvin in the animated film,
ParaNorman. The same year he also had a small role in the film
Pitch Perfect as Tommy, the university's audition launcher. He then starred in a short film,
Would You, written by his
Fright Night co-star
Dave Franco and premiered at the
SXSW Film Festival. Mintz-Plasse was supposed to play the lead role in the
CBS sitcom
Friend Me and even filmed several episodes, but before the series could air, it was cancelled after series creator
Alan Kirschenbaum died by suicide. As a promotion for the video game
Far Cry 3, he starred in
The Far Cry Experience, a series of online videos, as a fictional version of himself trapped on an island controlled by a psychopathic pirate named
Vaas. He reprised his role of Chris D'Amico in the sequel
Kick-Ass 2, which was released in August 2013. He made his third music video appearance in the
Unknown Mortal Orchestra's music video "So Good at Being in Trouble". He and his
Kick-Ass co-star
Chloë Grace Moretz starred in a short segment, "Middle School Date", in the film
Movie 43. He also had small roles in
Seth Rogen and
Evan Goldberg's
This Is the End, playing a fictional version of himself, and in the romantic comedy film
The To Do List, with
Aubrey Plaza. Mintz-Plasse appeared in the 2013 comedy skit investigating the voice behind the "Trap-a-Holics"
adlib on
WorldStarHipHop. In September that year, he and Dave Franco set out on a week-long road trip across America to promote the technology company
LG's "It's All Possible" campaign for its flagship smartphone, the
LG G2. The actors documented their process and broadcast it on
Funny or Die. Mintz-Plasse had a supporting role as college fraternity student Scoonie in the 2014 hit comedy film
Neighbors. He also reprised his role as Fishlegs in the animated sequel
How to Train Your Dragon 2 and in the
DreamWorks Dragons television series, which aired on
Cartoon Network and
Netflix. Mintz-Plasse played drums for the rock band The Young Rapscallions, which split after eight years in 2015. He then founded the band Bear on Fire, in which he plays bass guitar. Mintz-Plasse began playing bass guitar with
Ben Kweller during the 2021
Circuit Boredom tour. In 2025, he rejoined Kweller's band to support the grief-saturated album
Cover the Mirrors, which was dedicated to Kweller's late son. The live performances, including shows at Salt Lake City's Urban Lounge and Vancouver's Biltmore Cabaret, were described as intimate and cathartic celebrations of life and loss. == Filmography ==