Baruchel was born in Ottawa, Ontario,[1][3] the son of Robyne (née Ropell), a freelance writer, and Serge Baruchel, an antiques dealer.[4][5] He grew up in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood of Montréal, Quebec,[6] and has a younger sister.[7] His father was born in Paris, France.[8] Baruchel is of one-quarter Jewish descent,[9] with the rest of his ancestry being French and Irish-Catholic.[9] He has stated that he believes his Irish roots are from County Mayo.[10]
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.
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.[15] He also appeared in the 2015 music video for the song "Every Little Means Trust" by Idlewild.[16]
Baruchel was also involved in writing the Chapterhouse comic book series Captain Canuck.[17]
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.
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.[19] 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.[20] He was also named host of LOL: Last One Laughing Canada, which premiered on February 18, 2022 on Amazon Prime Video.[21] He appears in the seventh episode of The Kids in the Hall revival.[22]
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.[23]
Personal life
Baruchel was engaged to actress Alison Pill from 2011 to 2013. He alluded to their break-up in a Twitter post on February 16, 2013.[24] In May 2018, Baruchel announced his engagement to his girlfriend Rebecca-Jo Dunham.[25] They were married on September 21, 2019, in Portugal.[26] Baruchel has said that he is "probably agnostic".[27][28]
Baruchel is a supporter of Scottish football club Celtic since the early 2000s, and in 2016 co-produced a documentary detailing his journey towards falling in love with the club.[30]
^ abSimonpillai, Radheyan (May 13, 2010). "Jay Baruchel is the Trotsky". NOW Magazine. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved May 13, 2010. The funny thing is, Baruchel is only a quarter Jewish... His background is also French and Irish-Catholic... He may be hard to identify ethnically...
