Jesse Eisenberg Claims Superhero Movie Role Caused Significant Damage to His Acting Career

Jesse Eisenberg says his performance in DC’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice significantly damaged his acting career.

While at the 2026 BFI London Film Festival, Eisenberg recalled winning a Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor for the 2016 superhero film, and the “recognition” nearly cost him his career.

“Listen, a lot of it just came from fear,” he explained, per Variety. “I couldn’t get into movie studio parts anymore because I had won a Raspberry Award from [the] Batman movie… and I saw the trajectory.”

Eisenberg further explained, “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. And if you’re a paranoid person like me, you see it way in advance.”

The actor then said he turned the situation into a positive, deciding to try his hand in directing. “So, I was like, ‘I’ve got ot direct movies.’ That’s why I started writing them, just to kind of keep my career afloat, really.”

He also noted that the industry tells people what it wants from them.

“The industry did not want me to be in a superhero movie, and if you’re smart and self-aware, you learn that quickly,” Eisenberg pointed out. “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.”

He then added, “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

Eisenberg made his directorial debut in 2022 with his film When You Finish Saving the World. He is now preparing to release his film The Debut.