meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Jesse Eisenberg on Jewish humor, writing lessons, and interrogating strangers

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Politics, News, News Commentary, Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.511.1K Ratings

🗓️ 21 June 2016

⏱️ 59 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

My guest on this episode is Jesse Eisenberg — who you may know as Lex Luthor in Batman V. Superman, Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, or Daniel Atlas in the just-released Now You See Me 2.I was apprehensive about this interview. I haven't interviewed many movie stars. But this turned out to be one of the most natural, easy, and interesting conversations I've had for the show. Eisenberg is a cerebral Jewish writer who sees the world through the lens of sociolology and has a lot of trouble relaxing. So we had a lot to talk about, including:- Jewish humor and the dangers of assimilation- How it's different to write for the page than the stage- Whether Eisenberg has become happier as he's become more successful- What he learned backpacking through China- Why his family never takes vacations- How he turns the tables on fans who stop him in the street- Why he thinks it's easier to ask extremely personal questions of total strangers, and why it's worth doing- How his training as an actor helps him understand Donald TrumpAnd much more. So, so much more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

The following podcast contains explicit language.

0:03.2

Hello and welcome to another episode of The Esther Client Show.

0:12.0

I spoke this week with Jesse Eisenberg, the actor who's now in everything.

0:15.2

Specifically, he's about to be in Now You See Me Too,

0:18.3

which is a magician-hist movie, which I watched over the weekend.

0:22.5

It's actually a lot of fun.

0:23.9

That is, I think, a disfair to say, not the pain-dopic of our conversation,

0:28.4

which is, I know people don't like it when I describe conversations as wide-ranging,

0:32.8

because it's very cliche, but in this case, it is very true.

0:37.6

I know total blasts talking to Jesse.

0:40.8

We talk a lot about Jewish humor and Jewish traditions.

0:44.4

We talk a lot about assimilation and how that relates to his comedy.

0:48.8

We talk about his writings.

0:50.1

He's written a lot for the New Yorker and for McSweeney's

0:52.4

and some great comedy writing and is bringing that to a television show.

0:55.4

We talk about the difference, which I'm really interested in,

0:57.8

in writing nonfiction and then writing fiction.

1:00.7

He talks, and I thought this was super fascinating.

1:02.8

If you're a writer, I think you'll really enjoy it.

1:04.7

He talked about what is different in scenes that are written for people to actually act them out

1:10.4

and have dialogue around them,

1:11.6

versus scenes that are just beautifully written,

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Vox Media Podcast Network, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Vox Media Podcast Network and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.