Jesse Eisenberg Channelled His Own Personality In His Portrayal Of 'Lex Luthor' In BvS

Jesse Eisenberg Channelled His Own Personality In His Portrayal Of 'Lex Luthor' In BvS

Jesse Eisenberg is a bit of a polarising figure. While some find him a little pretentious or arrogant, others have hailed his immense talent. Sounds a bit like Lex Luthor! He recently explained what influenced his performance in Batman v Superman. It seems the answer was himself!

By Minty - Nov 04, 2015 08:11 AM EST
Filed Under: Batman vs. Superman

Love him or hate him, there is absolutely no doubt that Jesse Eisenberg will deliver a very unique take on 'Lex Luthor' in Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice next March. The Oscar-nominated actor recently stopped by The Diane Rehm Show (h/t EnStarz), and was asked by a fan (who later uploaded the conversation) about what he used to develop and influence his portrayal of Superman's megalomaniacal archnemesis. His response was well-worth listening to.

"I've always noticed the best thing to channel, as an actor, is yourself. To figure out what makes you angry, what makes you feel vengeful or righteous. Those are the feelings that Lex Luthor has. And use that as opposed to kind of watching Gene Hackman, who's a great actor obviously and played that part originally, and think, 'How can I kind of mirror that?'"

"Because the truth is, me mirroring him would just come off weird. We have different faces, different life experiences, different emotions, but what I do have - that I have more than anybody - is my own feelings, and so I use those, and then the character seems not only real, but emotional and just. He believes he's the hero of his own story - is the kind of the actor cliche - when you're playing the villain, you're the hero of your own story. That's the kind of most interesting way for me as an actor, and I think, for an audience to appreciate as well."



Some fans took issue with Eisenberg's casting when it was first announced back in January 2014. However, it's clear from his performance in The Social Network that he can definitely nail the character's arrogance and superiority. He has a polarising personality himself, but many would argue that's what makes him a perfect fit as Luthor. Do you like the direction he and Snyder have taken the character? As always, sound off with your thoughts below!


Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice hits theatres March 25, 2016.
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Minty
Minty - 11/4/2015, 8:05 AM
Thanks to @EricBorder for the heads up!
EricBorder
EricBorder - 11/4/2015, 8:10 AM
Thanks @Minty !! You rock, awesome article, as usual :)
Minty
Minty - 11/4/2015, 8:13 AM
@EricBorder

DrKinsolving
DrKinsolving - 11/4/2015, 8:14 AM
Nice! great write up @Minty

@EricBorder - Nice find!

Can't wait for this, Jesse is going to own the role. I love this promo pic too, this is so Lex, can't wait to see his evolution in the DCEU

EricBorder
EricBorder - 11/4/2015, 8:16 AM
@Minty
@DrKinsolving

Haha, right on!

Highflyer
Highflyer - 11/4/2015, 8:43 AM
I'm intrigued.
SuperCat
SuperCat - 11/4/2015, 8:47 AM
So Lex is really going to be a dick!

GhostDog
GhostDog - 11/4/2015, 8:48 AM
So he's playing himself... Eisenberg is Lex Luthor minus the cash. Pretentious, haughty...just like his Now You See Me character and his Social Network character. If it's a rehash of those, idk seems unfortunate. It's hard not to consider he was hired to mirror those performances. Snyder had to have seen those two films and said, "yea I want that"
GhostDog
GhostDog - 11/4/2015, 8:49 AM
I'm sold on sooooooooo much in this film, but not him. Not yet. I really have to see the performance to be sold.
MonsterSquad35
MonsterSquad35 - 11/4/2015, 8:50 AM
I think Eisenberg is gonna kill it as Lex. It's going to work real well.

People cant handle the juithhhh

jj72
jj72 - 11/4/2015, 8:51 AM
I'd much rather hear from Afleck, Cavill or Gadot. This guy is making sure he gets as much exposure as possible. Let's hear from someone else for a change.
MrJillyMcBeam
MrJillyMcBeam - 11/4/2015, 8:51 AM
He maybe an asshole, but he's a rich asshole. That's all that matters.
Pathogen
Pathogen - 11/4/2015, 8:52 AM
Yuck. I'll definitely hit the theater to see this, I just hope this guy isn't as annoying as he is in every other movie he makes...because that will take me out of the film a bit. I can't stand this actor. I couldn't even stand listening to an interview he did on NPR, had to turn the radio off in the car
Kyos
Kyos - 11/4/2015, 8:54 AM
I'm still not sold on Eisenberg as Lex, but it's almost guaranteed I'll like him better than Hackman's Lex.
DrKinsolving
DrKinsolving - 11/4/2015, 8:54 AM
Jesse has range, but I can understand the hate in a sense. "The Double" was great, and I feel like that should be mentioned on here more, but I understand it isn't what he's best known for....

But, Jesse will be great as Lex, imo, he nails so many aspects of Lex's character, and their the more important characteristics, imo, so I really like this direction. And, it's happened so many times, nobody thought Woody Harrelson would be able to play a villain or a darker character when he was on Cheers, and nobody expected Ledger, etc, etc, we all know the arguments that would support Jesse

Can't wait for this
GhostDog
GhostDog - 11/4/2015, 8:55 AM
I'd rather hear from Affleck as well. Shoot or even Adams, Fishburne, McNairy or Irons
BackwardGalaxy
BackwardGalaxy - 11/4/2015, 8:56 AM
Eisenberg's reasoning: "I'm playing a bad guy. People need to hate me. What's the best way to get the audience to hate me?"

Eisenberg's conclusion: Just be yourself

That's a life lesson for all, kiddoes.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 11/4/2015, 8:57 AM
Can we hear from this guy instead??? I'm sorry, but please
Pedrito
Pedrito - 11/4/2015, 8:57 AM
Channeling his own personality?
That's just about the worse thing Jesse could've said about playing Lex.
They might as well have gotten Michael Cera.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 11/4/2015, 8:59 AM
@Nomis he's without a doubt the best Luthor incarnation

grif
grif - 11/4/2015, 9:01 AM
his immense talent?

lmfao
Kyos
Kyos - 11/4/2015, 9:02 AM
It's crazy, when I see Rosenbaum play Lex I think "man, he's a pretty damn good Lex", but when I close my eyes I immediatly start thinking "man, the Flash seems to be having a pretty weird day there". (*_*)'
EricBorder
EricBorder - 11/4/2015, 9:06 AM
@Jollem

Hahaha, love that, it reminds me of Spinal Tap

GhostDog
GhostDog - 11/4/2015, 9:06 AM
actionmoviefanatix
actionmoviefanatix - 11/4/2015, 9:10 AM
ish
fumardude
fumardude - 11/4/2015, 9:10 AM
Sooo... Lex is gonna be a little annoying, pansy ass bitch?


Uughh give rights back to marvel!
DannRamm113
DannRamm113 - 11/4/2015, 9:11 AM
deleted
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