Fame, therapy and not fitting in

One minute Jesse Eisenberg was a small-time actor in indie movies, the next he was starring in the film that defined a decade. He talks about life after The Social Network and why he'll never be comfortable with success

From a certain perspective, Jesse Eisenberg's acting career resembles a darkly ironic cosmic joke, with Eisenberg as the victim. The story goes like this: you are a shy and awkward child, deeply uncomfortable in your skin. Then, one day, you discover acting, which you find "enormously comforting". Performing a prescribed role soothes your paralysing self-consciousness; hiding inside a character, you get the attention you crave, minus the deer-in-the-headlights panic of trying to "be yourself". Unsurprisingly, you prove particularly good at portraying fiercely intelligent but emotionally semi-detached geeks, angry at the self-assured world from which they, like you, feel excluded.

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Tags: artist