Jesse Eisenberg reflects on his experience playing Lex Luthor.
With Dax Shepard armchair specialist In podcast, actor reflects on ‘poor reception’ Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is and his portrayal of Superman villain Lex Luthor.
“I was in this Batman movie, and the Batman movie was poorly received, and I was poorly received,” Eisenberg said. “I’ve never said that before, and it’s a little embarrassing to admit it, But I honestly think it actually hurt my career because I got a bad reception over something so public.”
He also noted, “In this industry, if you’re in a really, really big movie and it doesn’t do well, the people who are picking the next movie to be in are not going to pick you.”
Eisenberg was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in the film social networkwent on to explain that despite the success of the project, he “had been doing some unpopular things that just didn’t see the light of day and, for the most part, no one knew about it.”
“But it was so public and I don’t read notices, reviews, movie news or anything, so I had no idea how poorly it was received,” he said.
Despite the criticism, Eisenberg reiterated his love for the character: “I loved the movie, loved it, loved everything about it. So I feel like I only have myself to blame. I didn’t do anything wrong like they did. No, I guess, ‘Oh, I guess I did something wrong in there so I did feel like I had to crawl out again.
“It’s frustrating, but in some ways I’ve been frustrated. It’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, sure, I have this great opportunity. Of course, it’s not going well. Just pessimism.
The 2016 Zack Snyder film, starring Ben Affleck as Batman and Henry Cavill as Superman, grossed over $873 million worldwide. However, the film was poorly received by audiences and even went on to win four Razzie Awards, with Affleck and Cavill winning for Worst Screen Combination and Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor. Won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor.
during an interview happy sad confused During the podcast, Snyder was asked if it was true that the studio wanted Tom Hanks or Adam Driver to play the Lex Luthor villain.
“I think I did have a phone call with Adam, yeah,” he said of the casting rumors. “Leonardo DiCaprio, I talked to him about it,” and he “actually came up with a lot of great ideas in the meeting.”
“I think, in the end, he was like, ‘Well, I don’t know.’ But he was very smart about the material and the character,” the director shared. “In a lot of ways, I think he was the one who at some point mentioned to me the idea of Superman fighting the Justice League.”
Affleck was also vocal about the film, stressing that he “loved it” and that it was the “biggest hit” of his career, but that it also had “a lot of negative reviews.” “That movie was interesting because it wasn’t necessarily judged on its execution but its tone,” he said in a 2016 interview.
Eisenberg recently wrote, directed and starred in real painco-starring Kieran Culkin. He also finished filming Now you see me 3.
