May 2013
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INTERVIEWER: The four of you aside, and we've mentioned Mark Ruffalo, but also Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman? That's a hell of a cast, dude!
JESSE EISENBERG: Yeah, it was incredible. I was the first actor signed on, so every few weeks they would call me and tell me, 'this guy's in it, that guy's in it...' I was so happy because I got to perform with them.
INTERVIEWER: Did you take credit, though? Like, 'Oh, of course! Once I signed on, you knew that everybody was going to fall in line!'
JESSE EISENBERG: I think that was the only thing detracting from them doing it immediately.
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INTERVIEWER 1: Did it [working on Now You See Me] end up spoiling some of the child innocence about magic for you, though?
JESSE EISENBERG: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I became pretty jaded during this movie. I also thought that all movies were real and I found out that they're actually filmed by actors.
INTERVIEWER 2: [laughing] Okay, Jesse, there's no reason to be a jackass, please.
JESSE EISENBERG: Sorry!
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INTERVIEWER: Didn't I see somewhere that you feel horribly guilty doing that [performing magic] to people?
JESSE EISENBERG: Yeah! Yeah, I guess so. I was doing magic on the set [of Now You See Me] with my magic teacher, and we would do a trick to somebody, he would walk away to get a donut, and I would apologize to the person we just did the trick on. I don't like keeping secrets; I'm a terrible friend--I can't keep secrets.
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April 2013
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I Didn't Win Any Pulitzer Prizes This Year →
by Jesse Eisenberg
I was awarded zero Pulitzer Prizes this year. This egregious omission follows last year’s receipt of no Pulitzer Prizes, and continues my twenty-nine-year streak of not receiving even one of these prizes.
The Pulitzer Prize was created in 1917, and is awarded in twenty-one categories, none of them to me.
Overlooked in the nonfiction category was an e-mail dated January...
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March 2013
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Masterpost of Jesse Eisenberg's writing
mrjesseeisenberg:
just thought I would go ahead and do this because Anna was asking about a masterpost for things Jesse’s written
McSweeney’s articles—here is a link to all of them, and listed individually:
Bream Gives Me Hiccups: Restaurant Reviews from a Privileged Nine-Year-Old: Matthew’s House
Body Rituals Among the Lauxesortem
Bream Gives Me Hiccups: Restaurant Reviews from a...
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February 2013
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INTERVIEWER: I was going to say that you could get an honorary Bar Mitzvah--you've served your time; you've done so many Jewish themed pieces.
JESSE EISENBERG: Right. Yeah, it's like, I haven't graduated from college yet but I'm hoping for an honorary degree to have it before, which is kind of inconceivable.
INTERVIEWER: Well, neither did Mark Zuckerberg. So you're in extremely good company.
JESSE EISENBERG: He has a little something more to show for it.
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JESSE EISENBERG: What happened was, I have a very close relationship with my aunt, she's a hundred and one, she was born this little town in south eastern Poland. And I told her if I got into a movie in Europe, that I would go visit this house that she grew up in. So I got into a movie that was filming in Bosnia and I didn't know so much about geography so I thought, you know, I could have an after work excursion to Szczecin. But I promised her I would go to this little town, I would see the house she grew up in--she'd always tell me about it. So I was doing this movie and after the movie ended, I flew out... Let me skip to another part of the story, because it's a funnier part of it. When I took all these pictures of the house and I brought them back to my aunt and she looked at them for a second and said, 'Oh, yeah that's it.' And uh, she couldn't care less. Two weeks, rented a car, got into a car accident--
INTERVIEWER: Is that true? You got into a car accident?
JESSE EISENBERG: I had a car accident, the guy--ah well, it's not important. Um, I was a victim! Anyway...
October 2012
1 post
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“It’s going swimmingly. Which is interesting—or ironic—because I can’t swim.”
– Jesse Eisenberg on his new play, “The Revisionist”
September 2012
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August 2012
14 posts
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Jesse discusses his character in "Why Stop Now"
Collider: Could you identify with the aspect of this character having a talent and passion, but not quite having the belief that he could live his dream?
JESSE: Yeah, exactly. That’s what’s driving him. He has this great ability and, at the same time, this great feeling of worthlessness that comes from having a troubled situation and the guilt that accompanies being great at something, in a situation that doesn’t always encourage you to be comfortable with that. That’s a sad rut to be stuck in, but is a really great story because it really centers on this guy figuring out that he’s good at this thing, and that’s okay. All these terrible personal circumstances can be separate. I see that all the time. Working in the arts, you see people who come from terrible circumstances and who, for whatever reason, have this incredible talent. But of course, with that great talent comes some guilt because, if you come from circumstances that don’t encourage it, it can be really confusing.
Collider: What were the biggest challenges in playing someone who is trying to be disciplined while living in such a chaotic lifestyle?
JESSE: He is that kind of a kid who had to grow up too quickly because his mom is not responsible, even though she’s a loving mother. He’s had to be her parent, in a way, and engineer her life while he’s trying to pursue his own goals and dreams. That’s just too much of a burden for a person. The story takes place mostly in a day, and it’s just this awful day where he’s both trying to do the greatest thing in his life, and dealing with the worst thing in his life. But, he has a good and constructive attitude, so the movie ends up being funny and sarcastic because he’s able to have this flustered reaction to all of it.
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Collider: What attracted you to Now You See Me, and what was it like to work with Louis Leterrier?
JESSE: It’s a really unique movie. The cast was huge and, for each character, they cast these incredible actors. It was a surreal experience. Every day, there was somebody really interesting coming in. It was a really fun time. I played the world’s greatest mind magician. He’s able to manipulate people through these very elaborate tricks. It was such a creative experience because the filmmakers created these very elaborate tricks that were interwoven into this complicated plot where the FBI is trying to figure out how they’re doing it. So, on the one hand, you’re seeing these incredible things, as an audience, in the same way that an audience would be watching these magicians. And then, on the other hand, you’re trying to figure it out from the perspective of the FBI. It was a really interesting process.
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Collider: What was it like to work with Richard Ayoade on The Double? Submarine had such a very unique style. How would you describe this film and its visual style?
JESSE: They built an entire world for the movie. Every set was built. They basically built an entire city. It’s incredible! So, the style is so unique. It’s a funny movie, but it’s very dark and terrifying. This character that I play, his life is overtaken by his doppleganger, so he’s struggling for not only his identity, but his life. The style of it is so consistently dystopian that I think it will be just fantastic. It was really a weird world to inhabit, as an actor, and I imagine that, as an audience it will be as well because you won’t see the camera and it won’t take you out of it, like it did for me.
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“She is obviously, you know, wonderful. The tone of the movie we’re doing...”
– Jesse Eisenberg on Mia Wasikowska, his co-star in The Double
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Jesse Eisenberg is ‘like a rock’ for Morgan →
Interviewer: [Tracy Morgan] once told a Metro employee that he wanted to put a baby in her. Jesse: He came up to me every day behind my head, an inch from my ear and sang that song — well, it’s a song but it’s also made currently famous by the Chevy commercial — [Bob Seger’s] “Like a Rock.” He just sings that in a very loud way beside my head every day at 5 in the morning. But when he’s...
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“It’s like just because the adults thought it was a great idea, we would too. But...”
– Jesse Eisenberg, “Bream Gives Me Hiccups: Restaurant Reviews from a Privileged Nine-Year-Old — Robert Frost Elementary School Cafeteria”
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Jesse Eisenberg On 'Why Stop Now,' Writing Plays &...
Jesse Eisenberg isn’t like typical celebrities. For starters, he makes his own phone calls. “Hi, this is Jesse,” Eisenberg said as normal as humanly possible when HuffPost Entertainment answered the actor’s call earlier this week. Eisenberg was phoning from England to discuss the indie comedy “Why Stop Now,” in which he co-stars opposite Oscar winner Melissa Leo. “It seemed like such an ideal...
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“The thing that leaps to my mind about that less-than-a-month last summer: Jesse...”
– Melissa Leo on her working relationship with Jesse Eisenberg in Why Stop Now
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“Jesse was one of the most pleasurable actors to work with that I’ve ever...”
– Melissa Leo, on working with Jesse in Why Stop Now (x)
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Richard Ayoade on 'The Double'
Interviewer: Speaking of auteurship, how’s work on your next film, The Double?
Richard Ayoade: I'm so kind of impressed and thrilled by Jesse [Eisenberg] and Mia [Wasikowska]. I knew they were terrific actors, but to see them actually do it was just a great thrill. If I haven't really screwed up, they should be really terrific. In fact, they're so good, I don't think I can prevent them from being terrific.
Interviewer: So, you didn’t hold a stopwatch to Jesse Eisenberg and make him do 99 takes again? [I.e., like David Fincher did to him for The Social Network.]
Richard Ayoade: Well, we did quite a lot of takes. But they're so good you don't want them to stop … It's going great. We have three days left of filming and Jesse and Mia are just terrific. I kind of can't believe I captured them in a moment of weakness where they agreed to be in it. I'm looking forward to starting editing.
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“I know that I want to be more like Matthew and TCBY because when you say you’re...”
– Bream Gives Me Hiccups: Restaurant Reviews From a Privileged Nine-year-old: TCBY by Jesse Eisenberg (via cookiestome)
July 2012
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Dean Ween on Uber-Fan Jesse Eisenberg
INTERVIEWER: Did you hear about actor Jesse Eisenberg declaring that Ween was the only band he listened to?
MICKEY: Yeah, he’s a huge fan. I’ve heard a lot of stories before that even, and since about his Ween fandom. “Oh man, that guy loves you. I was working on the set of this or that, I was wearing my Ween t-shirt. He came over to me and he didn’t stop for 20 minutes.” He's seen us a bunch of times apparently, but never introduced himself.
INTERVIEWER: Are you a fan of his acting?
MICKEY: Yeah, I think he’s great actually. I love Zombieland. The one I love.
INTERVIEWER: That’s a great movie.
MICKEY: My son is really into zombies. He’s eleven years old. Walking Dead. Zombieland. Anything zombies. We’ve watched that movie like a hundred times, but I’ve never seen The Social Network and I hear it’s a great movie.
INTERVIEWER: Oh my god. You have to see it.
MICKEY: I hear it’s killer. And it’s an interesting story I hear. Who would be interested in seeing a movie about that? It doesn’t sound like a great concept for a film. But apparently, it’s really, really compelling. People’s opinions I really trust have unanimously told me that I have to see it.
INTERVIEWER: Honestly, if I had to rank it. In my opinion, it’s one of the strongest movies in the last decade.
MICKEY: That’s what I’ve heard. When people that talk about it, their opinions about it are that strong and positive. He got nominated for an Oscar, right?
INTERVIEWER: Yup. He was up for best actor for that.
MICKEY: Well, there you go.
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“Mom had a date with a guy she called her ‘Widower Friend.’...”
– Jesse Eisenberg, “Bream Gives Me Hiccups: Restaurant Reviews from a Privileged Nine-Year-Old — The Whiskey Blue Bar at the W Hotel”
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“[Holy Rollers is] a great character study, again showing off the nuance of...”
– Jesse Eisenberg Attends Friars Club Screening of Holy Rollers (February 18, 2011)
June 2012
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Movies.com: Woody gets elliptical in this movie, bringing back the “ozymandias melancholia” phrase that he used in Stardust Memories – is there anything you do to ensure you don’t come down with a permanent case of that, as an artist?
Eisenberg: Yeah, it’s strange – it always feels a little Faustian, going to some of these events and parties, because it feels you must be testing fate – like...
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“I caught up with Eisenberg, currently on location in London, to talk about...”
– Katie Calautti, Jesse Eisenberg on ‘To Rome With Love’ and How He Sent Woody Allen a Script When He Was 16 (via annepunchmeintheface)
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At the Paris Theatre screening, Greta Gerwig said that meals on Italian film sets do not consist of regular craft-services fare. “First of all, I ate so much pasta. I was so lucky, all the costumes were big and flowy,” she said. “And also, we had these three-hour lunch breaks. I’m not kidding, me, Jesse, Ellen [Page], and our driver, Spartacus, would go in the Italian countryside to eat pasta...
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