Jesse Eisenberg’s latest film, The Debut, premiered at the 74th San Sebastián International Film Festival. Reflecting on the autobiographical aspects of the movie, Eisenberg opened up about his younger years, saying, “I was so shy, I was depressed, and I didn’t have friends.”
Jesse Eisenberg says he was shy, depressed and without friends before finding acceptance in community theater
Speaking to journalists at the festival’s September 23 press conference, Eisenberg discussed the film. He said, as per Variety, “I call it autobiographical because the movie takes place in 1990 in central New Jersey, and when I was in central New Jersey in 1990, I was like Mona Friedman [played by Julianne Moore].”
Eisenberg’s previous film, A Real Pain, earned an Oscar nomination. He said he was very shy and depressed as a child. He also said he had no friends. When Eisenberg was seven years old, he walked into a community theater. He found a welcoming group of people there. They treated him kindly and hugged him. The experience made him feel accepted.
“Going from a kid who was made fun of in school because he had curly hair, and the kids would say anything to me… and then I walked into the community theater, and everybody’s like: ‘Your hair is amazing. Come this way, you should play with me,'” he added. Eisenberg said one particular scene was drawn from his own “real pain.” The scene shows Paul Giamatti’s director yelling at Moore’s New Jersey housewife character.
Eisenberg recalled his time in drama school. He said he often did silly things and deliberately acted badly to make his friends laugh. His teacher eventually realized that Eisenberg needed to take acting more seriously. In front of his friends, the teacher broke him down in a dark room and screamed at him, much like Moore’s character does in the film.
The experience left Eisenberg screaming and crying for about five minutes. He said it made him feel like he could do anything on stage. He had already embarrassed himself and reached the depths of his emotions. After that, he felt free to take on any role.
Halle Bailey, Havana Rose Liu, Bernadette Peters, Colton Ryan, Lilli Cooper, Maulik Pancholy, and Bonnie Milligan also star in the film. A24 will release The Debut in select U.S. theaters on December 11. Lionsgate will release the film in the UK on January 15.
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