You probably have an idea of what to expect from Jesse Eisenberg’s character in a movie when you hear his name attached to the project. A shy, reserved, and squirmy intellectual who may not be the most courteous but always makes his point heard thanks to his rapid-fire, flowery style of speech. He has portrayed a wide range of characters, from likeable (in Zombieland) to despicable (in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), and has given notable performances in films such as The Social Network, The Art of Self-Defense, The End of the Tour, and The Squid and the Whale.
If the Oscar nominee is to be believed, though, Eisenberg’s next job will be very different from anything we’ve seen him in before. More precisely, he is training to portray a sasquatch in his upcoming film. Eisenberg stated his desire to return to acting during an interview with Variety, where he was promoting his directorial debut feature film When You Finish Saving the World, which recently premiered at the Sarajevo Film Festival. While he appreciated his time behind the camera, he has no plans to become a full-time director and is instead busy on his next movie, in which he plays the part of Sasquatch. The actor said, “I’ve wanted to work with the Zellner Brothers for a long time, and the next movie I’m doing is theirs.”
Though information about the film is few, Eisenberg was glad to enthuse about the preparation process for this part, which was directed by David and Nathan Zellner (famous for their work on Damsel and Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter). I’m a Sasquatch in this production, so I have to wear a lot of hair and fake makeup and there are no lines. I make a bunch of grunting noises but don’t have any dialogue. [Laughs] How exciting! I can’t wait. This picture seems like a radical change from the sort of roles Eisenberg has hitherto dominated on screen. It’s understandable why he’s raring to go into the unknown. It’ll give him an opportunity to try his hand at a role that few would have pegged him for, and it might help him diversify his acting CV in intriguing ways as he moves into the next stage of his multifaceted career.
Alpha Gang is a science fiction film currently in production that will feature Jon Hamm, Sofia Boutella, Steven Yeun, Mackenzie Davis, and Nicholas Hoult, and is being directed by the Zellners. In the film, a dangerous extraterrestrial civilization had its plans to invade Earth foiled by those pesky human feelings. It’s not known if Eisenberg will portray Sasquatch in this movie or in another picture they’re working on together. Eisenberg is also hard at work on his next movie, A Real Pain, which he will write, direct, and appear in opposite Kieran Culkin. Reportedly, in Eisenberg’s sophomore film, two cousins who had been alienated from one another come to Poland to attend their grandmother’s funeral.
The family members decide to take a tour of the Holocaust sites from where they descended. Production on the film is scheduled to begin in Warsaw, Poland, in March 2023. In addition, sometime in 2019, Eisenberg will feature in the FX miniseries Fleishman Is In Trouble, which is adapted from Taffy Brodesser-novel Akner’s of the same name. Additionally, Eisenberg will soon be seen in the upcoming films Mandrome and The Medusa. To put it simply, Eisenberg has a lot on his plate right now and judging by this unexpected part, he’s not hesitant to take chances. After making its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, When You Finish Saving the World is scheduled to have its official premiere sometime in 2018.