Jesse Eisenberg’s directorial debut was a “real learning curve” for the movie star.
Jesse Eisenberg has reflected on his directorial debut
The 43-year-old actor made his directorial debut with A Real Pain, the 2024 comedy-drama film, and Jesse has opened up about the experience of working with Kieran Culkin on the project.
Speaking the London Film Festival, Jesse shared: “We didn’t know if Kieran was ever going to show up to Poland.
“Emma Stone is producing the movie. She personally took him on the plane to Poland [where it was shooting] because we didn’t know if he was going to show up. She sent me a video of him going through customs, saying ‘We are here!’ and then he still was late.”
Kieran, 44, urged Jesse to adopt a “spontaneous” shooting style for the film, which wasn’t part of the director’s initial plan.
Jesse explained: “We’re like, what’s best for the movie?
“And I guess what’s best for the movie is probably following this live wire around because that’s the engine of the movie anyway. If he had a small part, you’d be like, ‘We just have to tell this guy to shut up,’ you know? But he’s the lead … So it was a real learning curve.”
Meanwhile, Jesse recently explained that his new movie is inspired by his own experiences.
The actor has written, co-produced and directed The Debut, the new musical comedy film, and Jesse revealed that the movie was inspired by his own real-life experiences.
He told reporters at the San Sebastian Film Festival: “The movie takes place in 1990 in central New Jersey, and when I was in central New Jersey in 1990, I was like [Julianne Moore’s character] Mona Friedman. I was so shy. I was depressed, and I didn’t have friends. And then I walked into this community theatre when I was seven years old, and suddenly everybody was so nice, and they hugged me.
“Going from a kid who was made fun of in school because I have the same hair as you, curly hair, and the kids were saying mean things to me. And then I walked into the community theatre, and everybody said, ‘Wow, your hair is so amazing! Come this way, you should play with me!'”
Jesse explained that he found the experience to be transformative.
He said: “Suddenly it was like I walked into an alien planet where everybody was nice, and then just like Julianne Moore’s character, I took it too far and became crazy.
“So really, the movie is charting my life when I was a child. But I just thought it would be so much better to make it about an older woman because Julianne’s amazing, and it’s more emotionally impactful to see a woman.”