Jesse Eisenberg has revealed the uncomfortable truth behind his pivot to writing and directing: after winning a Razzie for playing Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, he says Hollywood studios simply stopped casting him.
Speaking at a screen talk during the 2026 BFI London Film Festival, the 43-year-old actor admitted he “couldn’t get into movie studio parts anymore because I had won a Raspberry Award” from the Batman film, as reported by Variety. The fear of a fading career pushed him behind the camera — and it turned out to be the best move he ever made.
Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor (Credits: IGN)
“A Lot Of It Just Came From Fear”
“Listen, a lot of it just came from fear,” Eisenberg told the festival audience. “If you’re an actor, you’re constantly panicked about ‘Am I on an upslope or a downslope?’ Because there’s no plateau. Acting is just this unstable, awful industry where you are either on the treadmill and you’re doing okay and you’re running up or you are yesterday’s news and it’s awful.”
His verdict on the fallout was brutally honest: “The industry did not want me to be in a superhero movie.” So he did the only thing that made sense to him — he started writing and directing, “just to kind of keep my career afloat, really.”
Back in 2017, Eisenberg picked up the Worst Supporting Actor Razzie for his turn as Lex Luthor in Zack Snyder’s divisive 2016 blockbuster. He later reprised the role in Justice League, but the damage was done.
From Blockbuster Exile To Oscar Contender
The irony is that the exile may have unlocked his best work. Eisenberg wrote, directed and starred in A Real Pain, the 2024 comedy-drama about two cousins on a Holocaust tour through Poland — a film that earned him widespread acclaim and a string of awards-season nominations.
It’s not the first time he has opened up about the Batman v Superman fallout. On the Armchair Expert podcast, he admitted the film’s brutal reception “genuinely” hurt his career “in a real way,” even while taking full responsibility: “I loved my role and I loved the movie… I’m like, ‘Oh, I guess I did something wrong there.'”
A decade on from the cape and cowl, Eisenberg has found his footing on his own terms — and Hollywood’s loss is independent cinema’s gain.
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Source: IGN — read the full story there.
