Jesse Eisenberg says his Razzie Award win for his role as Lex Luthor in Zack Snyder’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” hurt his Hollywood career.
Speaking during a screen talk at the BFI London Film Festival, Eisenberg says the negative recognition he got for that ‘worst supporting actor’ win impacted his future in Hollywood:
“Listen, a lot of it just came from fear. I couldn’t get into movie studio parts anymore because I had won a Raspberry Award from [being in the] Batman movie … and I saw the trajectory. So I was like, I’ve got to direct movies. That’s why I started writing them, just to kind of keep my career afloat, really.”
The film, which opened globally with a strong $424.1 million box office, took home four Razzies overall, with the other three wins going to worst screenplay, worst sequel and worst screen combo for Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck.
Despite being lighthearted, Eisenberg genuinely believes the award impacted the job offers he got:
“The industry tells you what they want from you. The industry did not want me to be in a superhero movie, and if you’re smart and self-aware, you learn that quickly. And you know, it’s the unsuccessful actor that goes ‘No, I want to be in more of those.’ It’s not going to happen and they don’t want you there and they wouldn’t have given you a Raspberry Award if they wanted you there. That’s an award for bad acting. And so the industry tells you what it wants and if you want a career in the arts you have to follow the things that you’re being told are liked.”
After that film came out, Eisenberg popped up in sequels to other franchises like “Now You See Me 2” and “Zombieland: Double Tap,” the TV series “Fleishman Is in Trouble,” and has shifted to directing and writing now with 2022’s “When You Finish Saving the World,” 2024’s “A Real Pain” and this December’s “The Debut”.
A24 has also struck a deal with him for a new untitled series project to be shopped around. It will focus on an “18-year-old girl in the fall of 2002 at the beginning of the culture wars where new ideas and relationships challenge her beliefs”.
Source: Variety
