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. Also in 2010, he played two supporting characters in the Canadian comedy series The Drunk and On Drugs Happy Fun Time Hour. 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. '' 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
marijuana. 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. Baruchel had a lead role as
BlackBerry co-founder
Mike Lazaridis in the
biographical comedy-drama film
BlackBerry (2023), for which he won a
Canadian Screen Award for Best Lead Performance in a Comedy Film. He is also set to play
Ken Carter in
The Stunt Driver, a comedy film about the Canadian stunt driver's exploits. ==Personal life==