Oscars Week with Jesse Eisenberg (‘A Real Pain’)

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Lemonada Media

Society & Culture, Film Interviews, Tv & Film

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 26 February 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the lead-up to Oscar Sunday, our conversation with actor, writer, and director Jesse Eisenberg.

At the top, we unpack the journey that shaped his film A Real Pain (9:18), memories from his travels to Poland (15:40), and what he observed about his family growing up in East Brunswick (22:23). Then, Eisenberg reflects on his first jokes written on post-it notes (29:20), his breakthrough acting roles in Roger Dodger (31:35) and The Squid and the Whale (34:37), and formative visits to his aunt Doris in New York City (35:32).

On the back-half, we talk about his transformation in The Social Network (41:15), the erotic dream that inspired his play The Spoils (42:48), the real anxiety he explored while writing A Real Pain (46:39), lessons on directing from Richard Ayoade and Greg Mottola (51:14), and why he cares so deeply about his art (1:00:10).

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Guess what? Discover's accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. You heard right 99%. If you don't think so, maybe it's time to face facts. You're stuck in the past. Based on the February 2024 Nilsen report, learn more at discover.com slash credit card.
0:44.4	Lemonada. This is Talk Easy. I'm Stamforgo, so welcome to the show. Welcome to the show. Today, in celebration of Oscar Week, my conversation with Jesse Eisenberg.
1:03.7	We sat last fall around the release of his sophomore directorial debut, A Real Pain,
1:09.5	where he stars with Kieran Culkin as cousins,
1:12.7	reuniting for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother.
1:16.8	The film is based on a personal short story Eisenberg-Penn back in 2017.
1:22.0	In recent weeks, he's been awarded nearly every writing accolade of the season,
1:26.7	taking home best screenplay at the
1:28.4	Indy Spirit Awards, BAFTA, and WGA. Colkin, too, for his part, has won best supporting actor
1:35.7	in just about every race from the Golden Globes to the SAG Awards this past weekend.
1:41.0	A Real Pain is also up for Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards this Sunday.
1:46.8	It was one of my favorite scripts and films of last year, and today we unpack the journey
1:51.5	that made the film possible, by talking about Eisenberg's upbringing, his winding career
1:57.5	through theater, then into acting, and now how he's arrived as someone who
2:02.7	likes to work behind the camera. Whether you heard this episode last fall or you're hearing it for
2:08.4	the first time, I really hope you enjoy it. We put out an episode almost every week, and this
2:14.3	was definitely one of my favorites of 2024.
2:24.9	We will be back on Sunday with a brand new episode with Oscar-nominated actor, Monica Barbaro.
2:27.9	Until then, here's my talk with Jesse.
2:48.6	Have a good week. So you ranked every sign-filled?
2:50.4	Oh, yeah, for Vanity Fair.
2:51.8	That is the coolest thing.
	...

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