Jesse Eisenberg on Bill Murray, Walking Dead and Why He Became an Actor

Last week I met actor Jesse Eisenberg for a lengthy discussion of subjects ranging from his coming-of-age in the New York theater to his beloved Zombieland and his awards-season prospects for The Social Network. We covered a lot of ground, which I'll be retracing this week in a five-part series here at Movieline.

During part four of my chat with Jesse Eisenberg I learned a valuable lesson: Even if you have terrible handwriting (which I do) and your notepad is a safe distance across a bar table from Eisenberg, he will still try to sneak a peak at the line of questioning that's on its way. The only words he made out happened to be a topic I'd discarded, which, as Eisenberg's inquisitive nature would have it, now became a full-blown conversation topic.

In this segment of our five part series, we discussed the possibility of emulating Bill Murray's career, why Eisenberg became an actor in the first place and, because he asked, The Walking Dead.

Last time we spoke, about Zombieland, I was under strict orders that I couldn't mention Bill Murray's name...

Right, right ... Now it's OK [laughs].

Is he someone you'd like to emulate in your career style? Only choosing roles that interest him and doing limited media?

I don't know if that's actually what his experience is. People think that they... My own history, more specifically, is that I was speaking recently to a kid that was in an acting school that I worked at a few years ago. And he had this idea about what my career was like and the way I was handling things that was totally inconsistent with what is actually the case.

Do you feel that I'm doing that to you?

No, no. Not at all. So with Bill Murray, I always think, right, it does seem like he's in control of so much. But what I always try to remember, myself, is if I idealize somebody's manner, to remember that it might be a very different experience for them. I suspect it might be for him, I mean, I don't know. I didn't share more than a word with him so I don't know what his experience is.

Even with only one scene, that's a bit surprising, actually.

Well, it's just that some people you just don't... He was just coming in and out. Some people on movie sets you just don't speak to. And then you're in a movie together and people see the movie many times, so it looks like there's a relationship.

[To a waitress who sets a Diet Coke in front of me] Thank you.

You got a lime this time.

I did get a lime. I wonder why they switched from a lemon?

That means they like you [laughs].

That makes me feel good. I can go home happy. I do find it odd that the name of this place is called Social.

Why?

Because of your movie.

Oh, that. I thought because it's like this old Irish bar, only very modern.

Is it irony? I don't think that's the definition of irony.

What?

Because the name of this place happens to be first word of your movie.

Oh, I think that's coincidence more than irony. Irony would imply some paradoxical... yeah. [He leans over and peeks at my notepad.]

I don't have many more questions, I promise.

OK [Laughs]. I saw The Living Dead, or something.

The Walking Dead.

Oh, The Walking Dead.

Those are my "brainstorming" notes that I didn't finish because you showed up early. I was thinking that I wasn't a zombie person, but I really enjoyed Zombieland. So I decided to give The Walking Dead a chance based on liking Zombieland.

What is The Walking Dead?

It's an AMC show directed by Frank Darabont.

Current?

Yes.

Oh, OK. Similar to Zombieland?

Not really. It's taken really seriously.

Oh, serious. OK, yeah.

I might have asked you about it if this wasn't going well. As a last-ditch subject.

Oh, you'd go down there. I see, I see. Is the show good?

If you like zombies, it's good. It's kind of the same premise as Zombieland -- worldwide outbreak and you're with a band of survivors -- only the survivors are really scared and upset.

Do you suspect that it was produced because of the movie?

It's based on a comic book... But as I said, I'm skipping that discussion point.

[Laughs] OK, good.

But you pointed at it. I always assume that no one can read my handwriting, especially from that distance.

Honestly, those were the only two words that I could make out and I thought it said "Living Dead." Anyway.

You've pointed at your high school out the window behind you a few times. As an actor, is it an advantage to grow up in New York? When did you decide to become an actor?

Actually, I grew up in New Jersey, and when I turned 13 or 14, that's when I started auditioning for plays in New York. And in order for me to get to come into New York, which was very exciting, it was a great distraction for the discomfort that I felt in my school in New Jersey. I had to get a job so I think I had this added incentive to want to be involved.

I liked acting when I was younger. I started when I was 8 years old, doing like children's theater. When I got older, 13 years old, I wanted to perform with adults and come into New York City. I'm an an hour away on the bus. I had to have a reason to come here, so it drove me, maybe, a little faster than had I lived and grew up right here. And actually I went to performing arts high school on this block. I couldn't go to a high school in New York City because I wasn't a resident of this state, so I had to lie and say that I lived here and used an address from my aunt, who did live here. I had to justify going to a school in New York City, so I went to a performing arts high school. I felt like I always needed it in order to be able to define myself and be able to have something to do.

Even living near New York, is that an advantage to you an actor? Even opposed to L.A.? In New York you get trained with theater, in L.A. I would imagine a first role is going to be something like a bit role on Growing Pains. If you live here, you can do theater.

Yeah, what you just said is exactly right. I mean, you lived in St. Louis; there would probably be even less of an outlet. The first professional job I got was in Tennessee Williams' Summer in Smoke. Even if that's not what you want to do -- if you prefer to do maybe something a little more popular, or commercial, or something -- it still makes you think about performing in a way that is possibly more serious or more in accordance with more complicated parts of culture. And so there's something nice about that. When you do a movie that's maybe a sillier movie or something, you can kind of have some perspective.

The industry can be very overwhelming. The popularity can be very overwhelming. But if you're based in something that's a little more subtle that has less to do with popularity, or box-office, or commercial success, or something like that, it may produce a healthier approach. As I said earlier, I just did a play for 10 people and I would never think twice about doing that. I like doing it -- in many ways, way more than doing some kind of popular thing. And I suppose that's rooted in my appreciation for how I was exposed to entertainment in the first place, in small theater.

As opposed to a walk-on with Tim Allen on Home Improvement.

Yeah, I suppose that would have been... Yeah, there's very little theater out there. I suppose that kind of thing has its advantages as well, though. That I don't know about.