Jesse Eisenberg has revealed that he struggled to get roles in studio films after winning a Razzie for his performance in Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The actor played Lex Luthor opposite Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck in the 2016 superhero film. He said the experience made him rethink his career and pushed him towards writing and directing films instead. Speaking during a screen talk with Variety at the BFI London Film Festival on Sunday, 18 October, Eisenberg admitted that fear played a big part in his decision to move behind the camera. “Listen, a lot of it just came from fear,” he said. “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.” The Razzies, officially known as the Golden Raspberry Awards, are a tongue-in-cheek ceremony that highlights films and performances considered among the worst of the year. Eisenberg won Worst Supporting Actor for playing Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman, which received four Razzies overall. Eisenberg said the awards had a real impact on his career, even though people intend them as a joke. He said, “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.” He added, “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.” ‘The industry did not want me to be in a superhero movie’ Credit: Warner Bros. Eisenberg has since made a name for himself as a filmmaker, directing A Real Pain, the 2024 film starring himself and Kieran Culkin. The film earned Eisenberg an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay, while Culkin won Best Supporting Actor. But his experience with Batman v Superman also appears to have changed how he views superhero films and what the industry expects from him. At the BFI event, Eisenberg said he took the film’s reception as a sign that he should not pursue more superhero roles. “The industry tells you what they want from you,” he 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.” He continued, “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.” Despite the backlash surrounding his performance as Lex Luthor, Eisenberg has previously received major recognition for playing Mark Zuckerberg in David Fincher’s 2010 film The Social Network. His performance earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, but he has been clear that he did not want to return as Zuckerberg in The Social Reckoning, the sequel written and directed by Aaron Sorkin. For all the latest film and TV updates and hot takes, like our Facebook page. Post navigation Next storyPrevious story
