Jesse Eisenberg's new movie is inspired by his own experiences.
The 42-year-old actor has written, co-produced and directed The Debut, the new musical comedy film, and Jesse admits 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.
The actor-turned-director 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."
Meanwhile, Jesse was also asked about his decision to reject a role in The Social Reckoning, the follow-up to 2010's The Social Network.
The actor - who played Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg in the original movie - explained that he feels detached from the themes of The Social Network.
He explained: "It’s ironic because people associate me with this website, but they know way more about the website than I do, and I like to keep it that way.
"I’ve talked about it a lot, and Aaron Sorkin’s talked about it a lot. I loved his script, and he’s a genius. And the movie, I’m sure, is incredible.
"But for me, it just didn’t feel like something I wanted to act in again. But that has nothing to do with how great the movie is. The movie will be a great movie, and Jeremy Strong will be amazing in the movie. I’m sure. I just didn’t feel like it’s something I wanted to do again."
