Washington December 20
Actor and filmmaker Jesse Eisenberg recalled working in the 2016 superhero film, 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice', based on the DC Comics characters Batman and Superman.
"I was in this Batman movie and the Batman movie was so poorly received, and I was so poorly received," said Eisenberg during the recent episode of the Armchair Expert podcast, reported People.
"I've never said this before, and it's kind of embarrassing to admit, but I genuinely think it actually hurt my career in a real way because I was poorly received in something so public," he added, noting that "in the industry, if you're in a huge, huge movie and not seen as good, the people who are choosing who to put next in their movie are just not gonna select you."
"I've been in poorly received things that just don't see the light of day. For the most part, no one knows," shared Eisenberg.
The actor continued, "But this was so public, and I don't read notices or reviews or movie press or anything. So I was unaware of how poorly it was received."
Eisenberg shared that the way the film was received also impacted him on a personal level. "I loved my role and I loved the movie, doing it and everything. So I feel just myself to blame. I'm not like they did me wrong. No. I'm like, 'Oh, I guess I did something wrong there,' " he said while referring to the situation as "depressing."
He also opened up on his latest project, 'A Real Pain', which he wrote, directed, and starred in.
In the film, Eisenberg stars as David alongside Kieran Culkin, who plays Benji. The pair play "mismatched cousins" who reunite for a Holocaust tour through Poland to honour their beloved grandmother but their adventure "takes a turn when the odd couple's old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history," as per the synopsis, reported People.
The ace actor and director shared how he is personally connected to the story, saying, "I thought it really interesting to just have it set on a Holocaust tour, so basically the kind of humour of the movie and of the characters can just be offset against the backdrop of something quite big."
His family is from Poland, but what inspired him to come up with the story was his experience while visiting Venezuela with his wife Anna Strout. They were among other English speakers and isolated from locals, as per People.
'A Real Pain' is out in theatres now. The film has earned four Golden Globe nominations, including two for Eisenberg's screenplay and lead performance, reported People.