Jesse Eisenberg, at 41 years old, is opening up about his time in the 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. In the December 16 episode of the Armchair Expert podcast, he candidly shared his experiences and thoughts regarding the reception of the movie. He admitted, "I was in this Batman movie and the Batman movie was so poorly received, and I was so poorly received."

Impact on Career

According to Variety, the film grossed $874 million at the worldwide box office. However, with mixed reviews, Eisenberg believes it negatively affected his career. He said, "I’ve never said this before, and it’s kind of embarrassing to admit, but I genuinely think it actually hurt my career in a real way because I was poorly received in something so public. In the industry, if you’re in a huge, huge movie and not seen as good, the people who are choosing who to put next in their movie are just not gonna select you." He further explained, "I’ve been in poorly received things that just don’t see the light of day. For the most part, no one knows. But this was so public, and I don’t read notices or reviews or movie press or anything. So I was unaware of how poorly it was received."

Personal Impact

Eisenberg said that the way the film was received also had a personal impact on him. He said, "I loved my role and I loved the movie, doing it and everything. So I feel just myself to blame. I’m not like they did me wrong. No. I’m like, ‘Oh, I guess I did something wrong there.’" He referred to the situation as "depressing."

Latest Project - A Real Pain

In the podcast, Eisenberg also discussed his latest project, A Real Pain, which he wrote, directed, and starred in. In the film, he stars as David alongside Kieran Culkin as Benji. The pair play "mismatched cousins" who reunite for a Holocaust tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. But their adventure "takes a turn when the odd-couple’s old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history," as explained in the synopsis. After co-host Dax Shepard went through the film’s plot, Eisenberg shared his personal connections to the story. His family is from Poland, and the real inspiration for the plot came from a tour in Venezuela he went on with his wife Anna Strout. They were among other English speakers and isolated from locals. He said, "I thought it really interesting to just have it set on a Holocaust tour, so basically the kind of humor of the movie and of the characters can just be offset against the backdrop of something quite big."A Real Pain is now out in theaters and has earned four Golden Globe nominations, including two for Eisenberg’s screenplay and lead performance. The American Film Institute also included it on its list of top 10 films of 2024.