- 2 days ago
- #metoo
The actor discussed how filming the movie during the #MeToo movement "framed and recontextualized the movie in a way that felt not only relevant, but increasingly potent."
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Hi, I'm Jesse Eisenberg and I'm in studio with The Hollywood Reporter.
00:06I just watched the film and wow, what a ride.
00:10Yeah.
00:11Casey is such an interesting guy.
00:13Yeah, yeah, yeah, he is.
00:14Yeah, the movie takes place in this kind of parallel world where you can't place where it takes place,
00:20you can't place like what time period it is.
00:22And so my character is like an extreme version of a timid man.
00:26Yeah.
00:27He can't even speak.
00:28He's so nervous to say anything to anybody else.
00:31His only friend is a dog.
00:32He gets attacked on the street.
00:34And then he joins this karate class and it's kind of like a cult.
00:39And he joins this karate class to kind of learn how to defend himself
00:41and gets swept up in just the most bizarre kind of series of circumstances.
00:46Yeah, he really does get swept up.
00:47Now I know you've said that Casey is probably the most fun you've had playing any character.
00:52What were your favorite parts about playing Casey?
00:54He's like a ten-year-old boy and like he thinks like a ten-year-old.
00:59He assumes everybody's a good person.
01:01He assumes everybody's earnest.
01:03But he's also terrified of everybody.
01:05And I just love like doing anything that like, I don't know, can take me out of my normal way
01:09of behaving.
01:10One of the great joys of acting is to kind of be able to behave in a different way but
01:16under like,
01:17but in a safe environment, you know, in a place where that's acceptable.
01:20You know, if I acted like a ten-year-old boy all day in New York, I'd get punched and
01:24I wouldn't be able to ride the subway.
01:25So like getting to do that in a movie was just like, I don't know, it was like cathartic and
01:29therapeutic and interesting and fun.
01:31Now this film is definitely not your average karate film.
01:36You know, you kind of think that when you first start to watch it and then at some point in
01:40the film you're like,
01:40this is not three ninjas.
01:42Right.
01:42So what was your reaction when you first read the script?
01:46Exactly what you said.
01:47Like the first ten pages I thought like, oh, this is kind of the typical story of like, you know,
01:53the kind of meek protagonist who gains his inner strength from like a karate class after being attacked.
01:58And I didn't want to do it for that reason because it seemed like kind of a typical thing and
02:03I didn't want to play,
02:03you know, like, I don't know, just that kind of cliche, you know, meek protagonist who gains some inner strength
02:08from a sport.
02:09And then as, but I kind of just continued to read the script because I thought it was, the dialogue
02:14was so great.
02:15And I just wanted to kind of, sorry, I just saw an ad for gluten free pasta and a big
02:19green giant billboard.
02:20And I thought that's a good idea.
02:22That is a good idea.
02:23I'll have to eat some of that after this interview.
02:24This is like a really great location slash very distracting for an interview.
02:27But it's like an amazing, obviously, location that you have here.
02:30Sorry, we're on the top of Times Square.
02:32Okay, anyway, and anyway, so I thought, okay, let me just continue reading the script because the dialogue is so
02:37clever.
02:37And as I read it, I realized, oh, this is like an entirely skewed version of the kind of typical
02:44sports movie, like you mentioned,
02:46like Three Niners or something, like where the characters gain some inner strength and then take on the bully at
02:49the end.
02:50Right.
02:50Like this is a kind of like, it's a really brilliant satire on modern ideas of masculinity, on what we
02:57think a man should be,
02:58on misogyny, on homophobia, on sexism, and all this stuff that we're kind of discussing in culture now.
03:04And this movie is kind of a really brilliant and sly satire on that.
03:07Yeah. Now, did you have to learn any karate for the film?
03:10Or what was your relationship to karate before you started filming? Did you know anything?
03:14Karate and I did not have a good relationship.
03:16I was like in New Jersey in the early 90s.
03:20I took like three classes like every other Jewish kid is supposed to take until they realize they're allowed to
03:24quit and then they do.
03:25So I took like one of these, you know, storefront karate classes.
03:28They called them like, at the time they were called like McDojos, you know, because they were popping up everywhere
03:31like McDonald's, you know.
03:33Okay.
03:34But yeah, I didn't excel. And then for this movie, I had like three weeks of like fight training and
03:40karate training with one of the best martial artists in the world, Mindy Kelly, who designed the fights for the
03:45movie and choreographed it.
03:47And yeah, it was great. I mean, you learn all these things like don't talk during class and stand up
03:52straighter than I normally do.
03:53And all these things that kind of like helped me with the movie and, you know, in a way kind
03:58of like gave me the discipline that my character learns.
04:02You know, and the movie, like the kind of the dojo in the movie is like kind of run like
04:06a cult.
04:07And so it was great for me to do these classes where I had to kind of like follow an
04:11authority figure and do something that I was uncomfortable with.
04:14Because in the movie, my character is like the perfect cult member.
04:17You know, he's like, you know, he doesn't, you know, he's lonely and he's looking for an authority figure.
04:22He's very obedient. Yes, incredibly obedient.
04:24Yeah. So for me to like take the classes and kind of just, just kind of reorient myself with being
04:29an obedient person was helpful before playing that kind of character.
04:32Do you have like a favorite move you could show me? Is there anything you learned?
04:35No, I have several least favorite moves that I will never do.
04:37What is your least favorite move?
04:38All the ones I had to do, you know, that I immediately forgot when the movie ended.
04:42Like, you know, God, what is my, my character is a yellow belt in the movie.
04:45So I didn't have to do like that amazing karate.
04:48Like the other actors, Imogen Poots and Alessandra Nivola, they are black and brown belts.
04:53Okay. And so they had to get really good and they were.
04:56Then there's also this guy named Steve Tirada in the movie who's like one of the most amazing martial artists
05:00in the world.
05:01He's playing a blue belt in the movie and he's just incredible.
05:03So I was like surrounded by people who could do it really well.
05:06Yeah. And could kind of like distract from myself.
05:08Being a yellow belt, no pressure at all.
05:10I think I also made it to yellow belt. I can't really remember.
05:13Actually, I probably only made it to white belt.
05:15Like you, I think I took three classes.
05:17This is like a North Carolina suburban thing to do?
05:19Yeah. Yeah, it was. I guess just like in New Jersey, yeah.
05:21Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it was an eastern seaboard thing.
05:24Now where do you and Casey overlap the most?
05:26Are there any similarities between you guys?
05:28Or are you so different?
05:30I mean, anytime I play a role, like I think, oh, this is exactly like me.
05:33And then I play a different role, you know, or like a move, like a villain or something where it's,
05:37you know.
05:37But I think like, oh, this is exactly like me. I have the same anger as this villain or in
05:40this movie.
05:41I'm playing like this incredibly timid person.
05:44And I think, yes, of course, I'm exactly timid like that.
05:46So you kind of, I don't know, maybe just unconsciously associate yourself with it just by virtue of having to
05:51kind of get, you know, into the skin of it.
05:54But yeah, I don't know. I mean, I was like Casey when I was 10 years old.
05:59I really did think everybody was going to be nice to me.
06:02And if they weren't or if they weren't nice to somebody else, it was more of a surprise than like,
06:06I guess I had kind of like a more innocent view of the world, uncynical.
06:11I didn't, you know, try to kind of like charm somebody into getting something from them.
06:15I kind of was like more pure, like Casey is in this movie.
06:19And so I really liked playing it because it kind of reminded me of like, I don't know, a sweeter,
06:23older version of myself.
06:24Yeah, you can tap into your inner kid.
06:26Yeah, exactly.
06:27That is so nice.
06:28I've done things like that before, like where, yeah, the characters are kind of infantilized.
06:32And I don't know why, I just love it.
06:34Maybe, I don't know why.
06:35I guess in some ways it kind of like, I don't know, it's probably some kind of form of therapy
06:39somewhere.
06:39Yeah, definitely.
06:41Now, like you said, this movie explores toxic masculinity, which is pretty, it's a buzz term in today's society and
06:48in Trump's America amid the Me Too and the Time's Up movements.
06:52Did exploring this on camera feel more impactful to you in today's social climate?
06:58It was really a strange experience because Riley, who wrote the movie, wrote it in 2015 before the election, before
07:06the Me Too movement.
07:07And yet we were filming it two years later.
07:09And while we were filming it, like halfway through the shooting, like the Harvey Weinstein story broke and so suddenly
07:15everybody on set was reading about our industry and this massive shift that was happening in our industry and learning
07:20about, you know, friends and colleagues who were, you know, victimized by this horrible person and the crimes that were
07:26kind of like all under our noses that we were not aware of.
07:29And so what was interesting is like kind of reading about this every day and then doing a movie that
07:34was not at all a commentary on it intentionally but became kind of like relevant to the discussion and thinking
07:41about kind of masculinity, thinking about the dangers that comes with, you know, kind of men being told and kind
07:49of, you know, instructed even unconsciously to kind of be, you know, strong and bullish to succeed.
07:55And so it kind of framed and recontextualized the movie in a way that felt like not only relevant but
08:00like, I don't know, just increasingly kind of potent.
08:04Yeah, definitely. Now Imogen Poots, she plays Anna and her character, you guys, you have a complicated relationship but you
08:11eventually find your way to friendship.
08:13But her character is a vehicle for these conversations about consent and gender equality.
08:18Did that also feel really significant in today's social climate?
08:23Because, you know, kind of like for the same reasons we were just talking about toxic masculinity, it really felt
08:27so timely.
08:28Yes, exactly. But I think, you know, one of the really wonderful things about the movie is that it doesn't
08:32like feel like explicitly political.
08:33I think it's possible to watch the movie as like a kind of straight comedy and not feel like it's
08:38hitting you over the head with some political allegory or that it's a, you know, a kind of a Orwellian
08:44metaphor about, you know, the current administration.
08:46Like it actually, like, because it wasn't written with that in mind.
08:49Right.
08:49And so in that way, the movie, like, I think the best kind of, you know, the best kind of
08:54political kinds of movies like this that have something to say, do it in a subtle way without kind of
08:59alienating the audience that is, you know, put off by feeling like they're being kind of condescended to.
09:05Right. Now the movie is obviously very dark, but it's also very funny.
09:09Why do you think comedy is an efficient way to approach heavy subjects like toxic masculinity and bullying and violence
09:17and all these things?
09:17Oh, I mean, like any other kind of accessible form of delivery system, it tricks you into kind of, it
09:23tricks you into kind of going along for the ride and without realizing that it has something to say.
09:29You know, I mean, this is why they have like, I don't know, very attractive people read that a tornado
09:34is coming, you know, because like, oh, this person's nice and funny and accessible.
09:38But they're also telling me that there's going to be bad weather, you know.
09:41So like any other kind of nice delivery system, you know, comedy kind of brings you in in a comfortable
09:49way and then kind of deposits something that is a little more, you know, edgy or potent or something.
09:54And this movie is just brilliantly funny, but it's not funny in the way that's like, the movie is funny
10:00on its own terms.
10:01Like the, I mean, the dialogue is brilliant, but the characters are never kind of like excessively winking at the
10:07audience or indicating to the audience that it's like funny or that it's like.
10:10So we've had this very interesting experience like playing the movie at different like film festivals.
10:16Like audiences typically take it as that, like as something that's very funny.
10:19But like for the first few minutes, I think they're kind of finding their way with the tone because the
10:23movie is so strange, which is what makes it great.
10:25But it also, it also makes it feel, I think, very personal for people.
10:29Like people say like, I can't believe I found that so funny.
10:31Like as though it was like a, you know, almost guilty personal thing that they experienced.
10:35Whereas that's pretty much the intent.
10:36Right. No, I definitely felt that when Casey was finding his way to this hyper masculine persona.
10:42I mean, Riley has such an interesting approach to dialogue and some of the things that Casey was saying as
10:48he was becoming more manly, really, it shocked me.
10:51But I found myself laughing so hard.
10:54Yeah, yeah.
10:54What was one of your favorite lines?
10:56My character, I mean, there was one scene, this is an independent movie, so you don't have like that much
11:00time or money to like screw things up, you know?
11:03But there was one scene, I think we did like 25 actual takes of a scene because I could not
11:07stop laughing.
11:08And this doesn't happen to me like that much, but like it was like the sensei tells me I have
11:11to be more aggressive.
11:13And so there's one guy at my office who's actually kind of nice to me, he was my boss, and
11:17he invites me over to a barbecue.
11:19And instead of saying yes, I punch him in the throat and while he's choking on the ground, I tell
11:23him that not only am I not going to go to his barbecue,
11:25but I'm going to imagine his wife in a bikini this weekend instead of going to the barbecue.
11:28And it's so absurd and it's so unlike Casey that I just couldn't stop laughing.
11:33Also because this guy who's like this very sweet actor is like choking in front of me and making these
11:38like guttural sounds.
11:39And there's just, there's so many scenes like that that are like these perfect comic, you know, juxtapositions where my
11:45character is the exact opposite of what you kind of were introduced to him as.
11:48And so that stuff is just so funny to me and it's done so brilliantly in the movie.
11:52I mean I have a scene like where like I usually get a croissant and orange juice every day for
11:55breakfast, but then I decide I need to have a more masculine meal.
11:58So I walk into the, you know, bakery and I say I'm going to have coffee, hot black and with
12:03nothing to eat.
12:04Like it's just this guy who's this really sweet, timid guy basically being told by an authority figure like you
12:09have to act tough.
12:10It's like what I imagine like, like what happens to like a sweet kid on the playground whose like aggressive
12:15father tells him to go punch that kid in the face, you know.
12:18And so the kid just walks over terrified and just punches the guy in the face.
12:20That's like what Casey's going through. He's just been told to do all this stuff, but he doesn't know how
12:24to do it with any kind of, you know, any kind of charm.
12:27Right, yeah, his delivery is very robotic which makes it all the much more funny.
12:32Right, because it's not natural to him.
12:33Okay, so your resume is packed with a string of iconic films from Zombieland to the Now You See Me
12:39films and the Justice League films and Social Network.
12:41How did this project compare to anything else you've ever done before?
12:45Well, the tone of this movie was so unusual that after it was over I just had the thought like
12:50I want to do exactly like this kind of thing again, but it's so hard to find.
12:53I did one other movie called The Double that had like a similar tone.
12:56It took place in a kind of similarly unplaceable world and my character was kind of like similarly childish.
13:02And I remembered while I was doing this movie like how much I loved doing that and it's so rare.
13:07Movies just tend to be more naturalistic just based on the medium.
13:10You know, you're kind of watching people in close-ups so you expect a kind of naturalistic performance.
13:13But I would love to do more stuff like this that takes place in these kind of unusual worlds.
13:19Like it made me realize like, you know, Johnny Depp, obviously I'm not comparing myself, but like, you know, he
13:23comes out in all these things.
13:24And some people say like, well, why does he do all these eccentric characters?
13:27Like you don't see him doing the kind of naturalistic stuff.
13:29And like having gotten a little taste of that myself with a movie like this that takes place in such
13:33a fictitious universe.
13:34I just think, God, this is so much fun.
13:36And I'm not self-conscious at all doing it because like, I can't compare my behavior in the movie to
13:41anything that I normally do.
13:42So I'm just totally un-centered.
13:46Yeah.
13:46Right.
13:46Now, back to the Now You See Me films.
13:49What can you tease about a third film?
13:51We're all on the edge of our seat.
13:53Oh, that it might not happen.
13:53Oh, well you can feel free to go to the back of your seat and wait.
13:56Because I'm sure it's, I don't know, is there one happening?
13:58I don't know.
13:59I don't know.
14:00Sometimes I do like interviews like this and they reveal things to me that I didn't know about the things
14:04I'm supposed to be involved in.
14:05So, oh, I hope there's a third one.
14:07Everybody likes doing it.
14:08The cast is like this amazing group of people and I hope we can get together and do another one.
14:12That said, it's out of my control entirely.
14:14Right.
14:14Well, with Now You See Me you learned magic for that film and then you learned karate for this film.
14:19What was more fun?
14:21Oh, magic.
14:22It's, yeah, because you can do magic while sitting.
14:24Yeah.
14:24Yeah.
14:25Karate is like really, really hard.
14:26You don't need to kick anyone.
14:27No, no.
14:28Well, you guys can check out Jesse Kickin' Ass in the Art of Self-Defense, which is in theaters now.
14:33Jesse, thanks so much for being here.
14:34Thank you, Evan.
14:36Thank you, Eric.
14:38Thank you, Evan.
14:39I'll see you again soon.
14:39If you can see you again soon.
14:39First of all, we will be here if you go at the heart of the heart of the heart of
14:39the heart of the heart of the heart of the heart.
14:39Let's see you again soon.
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