Jesse Eisenberg Biography

Quick Facts

NAME: Jesse Eisenberg
OCCUPATION: Film Actor, Theater Actor, Playwright
BIRTH DATE: October 05, 1983 (Age: 29)
EDUCATION: East Brunswick High School, High School of Performing Arts, The New School
PLACE OF BIRTH: Queens, New York
Full Name: Jesse Adam Eisenberg
AKA: Jesse Eisenberg
ZODIAC SIGN: Libra

Best Known For

American actor Jesse Eisenberg is known for memorable performances in movies from indie drama The Squid and the Whale to Oscar contender The Social Network.

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Jesse Eisenberg

APA Style

Jesse Eisenberg. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 05:17, May 23, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/jesse-eisenberg-21136405.

Harvard Style

Jesse Eisenberg. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/jesse-eisenberg-21136405 [Accessed 23 May 2013].

MLA Style

"Jesse Eisenberg." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 23 2013, 05:17 http://www.biography.com/people/jesse-eisenberg-21136405.

MHRA Style

"Jesse Eisenberg," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/jesse-eisenberg-21136405 [accessed May 23, 2013].

Chicago Style

"Jesse Eisenberg," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/jesse-eisenberg-21136405 (accessed May 23, 2013).

CBE/CSE Style

Jesse Eisenberg [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 23] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/jesse-eisenberg-21136405.

Bluebook Style

Jesse Eisenberg, http://www.biography.com/people/jesse-eisenberg-21136405 (last visited May 23, 2013).

AMA Style

Jesse Eisenberg. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/jesse-eisenberg-21136405. Accessed May 23, 2013.

Synopsis

Jesse Eisenberg was born in New York City on October 5, 1983. His early interest in acting led him from children's theater to films like the independent drama The Squid and the Whale and the comedy Adventureland. He is best known for his role as Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg in the 2010 drama The Social Network. He is also a playwright and has appeared in his own works in off-Broadway theaters.

Quotes

"The joy of acting for me is to be able to experience emotions in a safe environment. You can't scream and cry in the street because everybody will look. If you do it on a movie set, you get applauded."

– Jesse Eisenberg

Early Life

Jesse Eisenberg was born on October 5, 1983, in the Queens borough of New York City, to Barry and Amy Eisenberg. Eisenberg's father was a sociology professor, and his mother occasionally entertained as a clown at children's parties. Eisenberg and his two sisters, Hallie Kate and Kerri, were raised in the suburb of East Brunswick, New Jersey.

Eisenberg became interested in acting at an early age. When he was 7, he starred as Oliver Twist in a children's theater production of the musical Oliver! and at the age of 13 he was an understudy in a Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke.

Film Breakthrough

Eisenberg attended East Brunswick High School in New Jersey before transferring to the High School of Performing Arts in New York. When he was a senior he received a breakthrough role in the independent comedy-drama film Roger Dodger, cast alongside Campbell Scott, Isabella Rossellini and Jennifer Beals.

Eisenberg attended college at The New School in New York and continued to act in a range of movies. He had a small role in M. Night Shyamalan's The Village in 2004. He attracted favorable reviews for his performance in 2005's well-received indie drama The Squid and the Whale, in which he played a bright, awkward teenager coming of age in 1980s Brooklyn while coping with the divorce of his parents, played by Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney. In 2007 he appeared in The Hunting Party (a drama set in Bosnia) and The Education of Charlie Banks. 2009 was another busy year: He co-starred with Kristen Stewart in the witty teen comedy-drama Adventureland, and with Woody Harrelson in the apocalyptic farce Zombieland.

Fame and 'The Social Network'

Eisenberg achieved his greatest prominence to date in 2010, with his lead performance in David Fincher's The Social Network. In this fictionalized account of the founding of Facebook, Eisenberg portrayed real-life technology entrepreneur Mark Zuckerberg, bringing an uncanny blend of intelligence, arrogance and neuroses to the part. His performance brought him several award nominations, as well as a higher degree of critical and popular recognition. However, he maintained a low profile in his private life, continuing to live in New York with his longtime girlfriend, Anna Strout, who works for a nonprofit arts-education organization.

Other Movie Projects

Eisenberg's recent film projects have been a mix of genres. He has appeared in Holy Rollers, based on a true story of Hasidic Jews from Brooklyn lured into an Israeli drug-smuggling ring (2010); the animated comedy Rio (2011); the action-crime caper 30 Minutes or Less (2011); and Woody Allen's romantic comedy To Rome With Love (2012). His releases for 2013 include Now You See Me, a crime thriller about a group of stage magicians who pull off bank heists.