A biography for Jesse Eisenberghasn’t been written yet.
“All of my pleasures are guilty, but that's just the way I'm wired.”
“I don't attribute an actor's great success to their own individual performance when it's something as collaborative as a movie.”
“My job when I'm acting in a movie is very limited to playing a role. I'm not evaluating somebody. I'm only evaluating them insofar as they're interacting with me, but I'm not evaluating their skill set and I don't watch the movies, so I'm not aware of the way they're putting things together.”
“There's something strange about theater. My characters consistently demonize elitism, but of course it's taking place in a theater where only so many people can see it. I've been in silly popcorn movies - the kind of thing that as an actor you might feel embarrassed about - but those movies reach many more people.”
“I always think the second worst thing in the world is to go on stage at night, and the first worst thing in the world is sitting at home at night. For me, it's scarier to not be doing it than doing it.”
“Mother Teresa was asked what was the meaning of life, and she said to help other people, and I thought, 'What a strange thing to say' - but maybe it's the right thing to say.”
“It's so nerve-wracking to be on a set. They're the most stressful place in the world, because you're making something permanent, and there are so many people relying on you in a lot of ways.”
“Acting is kind of difficult to intellectualize - it's a far more visceral experience. It's really hard to be able to think about and then employ these kind of esoteric notions of this person's backstory and try to weave it in somehow. It's just kind of impossible.”
“When you take on a role, even if the character is somebody that you are dissimilar to, you have to identify with the role and look for an emotional connection even if there is not a biographical one.”
“I don't follow sports that much now, but I was a Phoenix Suns fanatic in the early '90s.”
“As an actor, you have to be open to doing things where you look stupid, to be experimental.”
“I tend to be pessimistic about everything: If things seem to be going good, I'm worried that it's going to end; if things are bad, then I'm worried that it's going to be permanent. It's not a very comfortable attitude to have all the time.”
“I'm hardly the most notable person in 'Zombieland.' The other actors in it are way more famous than I am.”
“It's very hard to be a playwright because it's very competitive.”
“I think it's my nature to - every time I hear about an award or a nomination, it makes me realize how much I must've been losing before, because I was not aware that every major city had these critics' awards.”
“Look, I don't have a Facebook page because I have little interest in hearing myself talk about myself any further than I already do in interviews or putting any more about myself online than there already is. But if I wasn't in this position, I'm sure I would use it every day.”
“The ideal way to approach a character is to find something in yourself that relates in some way.”
“I'm not into music - the only music I like is musical theater, but I have every Ween album.”
“The only way to be turned off to being famous is to be famous.”
“Every character I play has to be the hero of his own story, the way we're all heroes of our own lives.”