'Batman v Superman' - Jesse Eisenberg on Getting into Character as Lex Luthor

'Batman v Superman' - Jesse Eisenberg on Getting into Character as Lex Luthor

"He Believes He's the Hero"

By Alex Burns

Jesse Eisenberg appeared on The Diane Rehm Show this week and spoke a little bit about preparing for the role of Lex Luthor in the upcoming 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" movie. The actor is responding to a caller's question and it's great to see him give such a thoughtful and considered answer.

“I’ve always noticed the best thing to channel, as an actor, is yourself. To figure out what makes you angry, what makes you feel vengeful or righteous. Those are the feelings that Lex Luthor has and use that as opposed to kind of watching Gene Hackman, who’s a great actor obviously and played that part originally and think, ‘How can I kind of mirror that?'”

“Because the truth is, me mirroring him would just come off weird. We have different faces, different life experiences, different emotions, but what I do have, that I have more than anybody, is my own feelings, and so I use those and then the character seems not only real, but emotional and just. "He believes he’s the hero of his own story" is the kind of the actor cliche when you’re playing the villain you’re the hero of your own story. That’s the kind of most interesting way for me as an actor and I think, for an audience to appreciate as well.” 

We haven't seen too much of Lex Luthor in the footage released so far from the film but it certainly looks to be a unique take on the character compared to what's come before. I like that Warner Bros. and DC are keeping Luthor's motives and intentions in the film a relative secret and the character recently received a great viral marketing campaign that I really hope we see more of. If you want to listen to Eisenberg's response in full check out the clip in the player below.

Fearing the actions of a god-like Super Hero left unchecked, Gotham City’s own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis’s most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it’s ever known before.

Directed by Zack Snyder and starring Ben Aflleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Gal GAdot as Wonder Woman and Amy Adams as Lois Lane, 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' is set for release March 25th 2016.

Source: The Diane Rehm Show (via Comic Book Movie)