Jesse Eisenberg Says He Couldn't Get Roles Anymore After Winning Razzie for BATMAN V SUPERMAN
Two-time Academy Award nominee Jesse Eisenberg has made his mark acting, writing, and directing, but if it wasn’t for one unfortunate accolade, he may not have ventured into writing and directing, at least not quite yet.
In a recent appearance during a screen talk as part of the BFI London Film Festival, the star of The Social Network, and writer/director of A Real Pain, shared that after winning a Razzie for Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, he had a much harder time getting a studio role.
The Razzies, short for Golden Raspberry Awards, are a tongue-in-cheek ceremony that “honor” the supposedly worst films of the year.
They are traditionally handed out the night before the Oscars. Eisenberg, who played arch villain Lex Luther opposite Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck, was allocated a worst supporting actor Razzie for his part in the 2016 superhero flick.
Eisenberg said he then pivoted his career to writing and directing, and explained: “Listen, a lot of it just came from fear. I couldn’t get into movie studio parts anymore because I had won a Raspberry Award from [being in the] Batman movie … and I saw the trajectory.
“If you’re an actor, you’re constantly panicked about ‘Am I on an upslope or a downslope?’ Because there’s no plateau. Acting is just this unstable, awful industry where you are either on the treadmill and you’re doing okay and you’re running up or you are yesterday’s news and it’s awful.
“And if you’re a paranoid person like me, you see it way in advance. So I was like, I’ve got to direct movies. That’s why I started writing them, just to kind of keep my career afloat, really.”
Luckily he had a knack for making movies and writing great stories. He received his second Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay for his film, A Real Pain, in which he starred opposite Kieran Culkin, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film.
At the BFI talk, the actor said his takeaway from the experience was that he shouldn’t star in any more superhero films.
“The industry tells you what they want from you,” Eisenberg said. “The industry did not want me to be in a superhero movie, and if you’re smart and self-aware, you learn that quickly.
“And you know, it’s the unsuccessful actor that goes ‘No, I want to be in more of those.’ It’s not going to happen and they don’t want you there and they wouldn’t have given you a Raspberry Award if they wanted you there.
“That’s an award for bad acting. And so the industry tells you what it wants and if you want a career in the arts you have to follow the things that you’re being told are liked.”
I don’t think a Razzie necessarily carries the weight Eisenberg felt it did. Sandra Bullock won a Razzie for the film All About Steve the night before she won her Academy Award for her film The Blind Side.
She’s joined by a myriad of actors who have won both of these awards, including Halle Berry, Tom Hanks, Al Pacino, Jared Leto, Leonardo DiCaprio, Marlon Brando, and more.
It could have just been during a time that Eisenberg didn’t have a lot of roles coming in, but it’s also hard to be recognized negatively and see your career slow down. Whatever the reason, it expanded his career in a great way, and I look forward to seeing where he goes from here.
Eisenberg’s latest directorial effort, The Debut, starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti, is closing London Film Festival, and will hit theatres on December 18th.
via: Variety