Jesse Eisenberg Is The Greatest Jesse Eisenberg That Ever Jesse Eisenberg’d

Now You See Me, the newest film to star Jesse Eisenberg, came out in the US this week. A crime caper that centres on a group of illusionists who pull off bank robberies during their performances, it looks like the most fun thing to hit cinemas in some time. However, we need to talk more about Jesse Eisenberg himself.

The young actor has made a streak of great movies these last couple of years, from Zombieland to The Social Network, and we can’t wait to see his latest. In the meantime, we compiled a list of eight reasons why Jesse Eisenberg is the greatest thing ever. Please gather around for this important public service announcement…

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1. He Gives Great Interviews

We’ve seen a million press calls before, and we know how they’re meant to go down: the reporter asks a series of dumb questions, and the talent responds with a series of dumb answers while blandly sticking to the script.

During the recent press tour for Now You See Me, Eisenberg went WAY off script. He was labelled a jerk for cutting the reporter down to size, and sure, he comes off a little smug, but when was the last time you saw an interview this entertaining?

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2. He’s A Talented Writer

Oh yeah, no big deal, but in-between acting jobs, Jesse Eisenberg is an accomplished writer. He has written and starred in several off-Broadway plays, and regularly contributes humour pieces to The New Yorker and literary journal McSweeney’s.

The latest of these is a series entitled Bream Gives Me Hiccups: Restaurant Reviews From A Privileged Nine Year Old. The pieces, which tell the story of a precocious kid and his kinda awful home life, are both sad and hilarious.

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3. He’s Great At Playing Erudite Weirdos…

Eisenberg’s breakthrough role came in Noah Baumbach’s The Squid And The Whale, playing a smart but deeply troubled teen. He built on this in films like Zombieland, where he played the kind of resourceful nerd who could actually survive an apocalypse.

Then came The Social Network. He projected a fierce, almost creepy intelligence in the role of Mark Zuckerberg, taking a junior sociopath and turning him into one of the most compelling screen creations of recent times.

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4. … But He’s Adorably Weird In Real Life

In a 2010 Guardian interview, Eisenberg spoke about how he struggled to fit in at school, and turned to acting in order to deal with his anxiety. “When playing a role, I would feel more comfortable, as you’re given a prescribed way of behaving,” he said.

“I’m not actually mature, just very self-conscious around people my own age because I feel like I’m supposed to act the same way they act and I don’t know how,” he added. Awww.

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5. He Inspired One Of The Most Enduring Internet Memes Of Recent Times

There are a million and one of these, and yet they are NEVER NOT FUNNY.

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6. He And Andrew Garfield Are The Cutest Besties Ever

Sure, they were at each-other’s throats in The Social Network, but by the looks of these pictures, they’re total BFFs in real life.

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7. He Can Pull Off Pyjamas

It’s a difficult look, but he makes it work. The dude can even make the fleecy pants and sandals combo look fetching.

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8. Just Look At Him 

C’mon, just look at the guy. Don’t you just want to muss up his hair and invite him around to play video games and eat pizza all night?

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Now You See Me will be released locally on August 8.