Batman V Superman star Jesse Eisenberg has done a lot with his career in a relatively short time. Since 1999 he’s used his acting talents on two TV shows, appeared in 29 movies (which he’s mostly starred in), including his Oscar nominated performance in The Social Network. He’s also written and starred in three plays for the New York stage and written for The New Yorker and McSweeney’s magazines. The man even released a book of short humor essays this year. So, it makes sense that Eisenberg would think smoking weed is mostly just good for making people useless. Even though, you know, he starred in American Ultra, a film all about getting baked.
I think it’s really unproductive [to be stoned], it seems like a very selfish thing to do. I’ve never seen someone stoned and helping. No one says, oh, let’s get stoned and help Jeff move.
Vulture reported the story after Jesse Eisenberg spoke with writer Susan Morrison at the New Yorker Festival on Saturday. The erudite actor also said he’s more interested in playing and writing about eccentric people than following the more traditional romantic comedy type of Hollywood stardom path.
That desire can certainly be found in Jesse Eisenberg’s film resume. Most of his movies have been indie projects that deal with the difficulties of growing up (even if you’re already an adult) and figuring out what impact you want to have on the world around you.
The 32-year-old actor has made a nice career for himself by staking out these eclectic roles and mixing them with more accessible, mainstream fair like Rio, Zombieland, The Social Network and 30 Minutes Or Less.
His highly anticipated role playing Lex Luthor in next year’s Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice will certainly be a departure for the actor. With his filmic history, it’s safe to say that very few people saw a major budget superhero film in his future.
I freely admit that I was skeptical when I heard the filmmakers were going so young with Lex Luthor this time around. I was also taken aback by Jesse Eisenberg’s casting. He seemed too thoughtful, potentially fragile and, well, smart in a really adult way to take on Superman’s iconic arch nemesis. I wanted my new big screen Lex to be older than Superman (Hasn’t he always been older in every movie and television cartoon until now?), and menacing in a really physical way that backs up his evil genius brain power.
But, since the Batman V Superman wrapped filming and we’ve seen some dynamic clips from the movie, and since Jesse Eisenberg has started talking (a lot) about the movie and his experience making it, I’ve gotten decidedly more excited about his Lex Luthor. Ok, so he’ll possibly be the most cerebral of the Lex’s we’ve ever had on film. And, he’ll probably lack the physical stature many of us are used to seeing in the character if we’re Saturday morning cartoon Superman veterans.
But, I have a feeling this Lex will be creepier and more threatening than we’ve ever seen before. Someone who presents even more of a mental challenge for Superman than in past iterations of the character. Here’s a guy his own age who just trumps him in smarts in a really visceral way that works much better than any amount of physical prowess, especially since he could never beat him in that way anyhow. And, obviously, because Lex Luthor would never have the time for or inclination to get stoned, Jesse Eisenberg is the right guy for that job.
