Many of you may know Jesse Eisenberg best from his work in the DC Universe or huge franchises like Zombieland and Now You See Me, but the actor recently made the transition to filmmaker.
He'll take the helm of an adaptation of When You Finish Saving The World, a book her wrote for Audible. Starring Julianne Moore, Finn Wolfhard, and Alisha Boe, the project is currently in post-production, and when we caught up with Jesse to discuss his role as an executive producer and star in Wild Indian, we had to ask if there was anything he could share with us about his directorial debut.
Below, you'll find what he had to say about the project along with some interesting thoughts on how it feels to see the rise of streaming services shortly after embarking on his first journey as a director.
We are seeing the landscape shift in this "pandemic era," and it's fascinating to get Jesse's perspective (as When You Finish Saving The World was shot specifically for that big screen experience).
We mentioned pandemic and theaters a little earlier and here in the UK, like in the U.S., they’re still struggling to bounce back even with the big Marvel films coming out. As a filmmaker yourself, how do you feel about the rise of streaming services, and are you keen to preserve that big screen experience?
It’s funny because I’m editing a movie now [and] it’s being put out by this great studio, A24, which does amazing theatrical releases of very unusual movies. The post-production process involves a lot of making sure it looks great on the big screen, and it’s funny because that’s the process they’ve used forever. In the back of my mind, I keep thinking, ‘Is this important?’ because I don’t know how people are going to watch it. My movie is a small, personal character movie. It’s shot on 60mm film, so it has an amazing look to it, but it can be experienced both ways with probably equal appreciation.
Is there anything you can tell us about your film? I appreciate you might not want to talk about it just yet, but at the same time, I know a lot of people are really excited to see what you’ve done there.
The movie is, like, the expression of someone who got very lucky. I just feel so lucky. I wrote this book for Audible, and it’s an adaptation of part of that. It stars Julianne Moore and she’s just absolutely divine in it. She plays a character who is quite an unusual, particular woman. She’s just fantastic. The other leading character is Finn Wolfhard who is obviously very popular for Stranger Things and he is just phenomenal in this. [Laughs] He plays a young guy who has a big fanbase because he’s a singer/songwriter, and Finn the person also has a huge fanbase. He’s perfect in the role and so wonderful. The movie is the product of a very lucky break for somebody: me!
It sounds like we could be in store for something really special with When You Finish Saving the World, and given the calibre of filmmakers Jesse has worked with over the years, something tells us he'll have a lot to bring to the table. Hopefully, more will be revealed by A24 in the near future, and we'll be sure to keep you updated on that front (for now, you can check out the book on Audible here).
You can find out what Jesse had to tell us about his time as Lex Luthor by clicking here, and make sure to check back here early next week to read the actor's full comments about Wild Indian.