Jesse Eisenberg multitasks between the screen and the stage

Actor Jesse Eisenberg’s take on supervillain Lex Luthor has gotten him lots of attention lately, thanks to the box office success of “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.” But Warner Bros.’ DC juggernaut film may cause some of Eisenberg’s other accomplishments to get lost in the shuffle.

The actor, who’s probably best known for his portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg in “The Social Network,” also has a lead role in the upcoming indie drama “Louder Than Bombs,” as well as the late spring thriller, “Now You See Me 2.” But it’s not just his acting work you can experience. A play written by Eisenberg, “The Revisionist,” is having its West Coast premiere at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts through April 17.

The Frame’s John Horn recently caught up with Eisenberg on the Warner Bros. lot, just before the big “Batman v. Superman” release date.

Download the audio.

INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS

Do all of these different projects represent similar interests for you?

Yes, or just a real paranoia about the future and a desperate attempt to not have a day off. It’s weird. As an actor, you end up having a lot of time off. As a writer, you have a lot of time spent alone, and both of those professions can lead to feelings of inaction. And yet, occasionally there are points — like now — in my life where all the things I did five years ago are coming to fruition or becoming public. And so it appears that I’m busier than I am because I’m really not doing anything now except promoting these things.

Do your interests evolve too as you mature?

Yes, absolutely. I started out as a writer wanting to write jokes and standup comedy. And then I started writing movie scripts that were optioned, but not good. And then I started writing plays. “The Revisionist” was my first play. I wrote it when I was 23. And I really started to find my voice with that play. And then, as an actor, I see a real overlap. Like, we’re actually recording this [interview] from the trailer where I’m doing press for “Batman v. Superman,” and the guy who wrote this script, Chris Terrio, is also a playwright and a really wonderful writer. And so, to have the opportunity to kind of live in his world as an actor is inspiring to me as a writer.

So when you’re making a movie like “Batman v. Superman,” do you find yourself wanting to sit down with the screenwriter and talk about storytelling, and how you write a screenplay?

I love doing that after the movie is finished. But while the movie is happening I’m kind of in this paranoid state that I’m going to either screw it up or I’m in, let’s say, a villainous state. Like when I’m playing Lex Luthor, I’m actually trying to summon these horrible feelings that would probably not bode well for a nice conversation with a writer.

Did you find yourself summoning someone in particular to play Lex Luthor?

Yes, I have known people who are charming, passive-aggressive, Machiavellian manipulators. You know, this character exists in this world and the movie made a great effort to make a psychologically realistic villain.

In the New York Times review of “The Revisionist,” critic Ben Brantley — who loved the play — said, "As an actor, Mr. Eisenberg has specialized in solipsistic jerks."

I’m surprised he put in the caveat, As an actor.

What does that mean?

My goal with some of these characters that I write is to try to humanize people that seem otherwise horrible. [It's] similar with the character in the Batman movie. My goal is to . . . take a character as far as I can go as a horrible person and try to humanize them. And my goal as an actor and as a writer is to try to shed a light so that the audience can, if not sympathize with them, at least understand them.

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