Eisenberg likes playing the villain

Jesse Eisenberg. Photo: Bang Showbiz
Jesse Eisenberg. Photo: Bang Showbiz

Jesse Eisenberg prefers to play bad guys in movies, saying he feels more sympathy for them.

The 32-year-old actor - who stars as villain Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - says he "sympathises" more with those who are "tortured" rather than confident.

He told Time Out London: "I play bad guys in movies if possible because I feel more sympathy for the guy who's tortured than the guy who is confident.

"That's why I'm probably going to do a third Now You See Me. I get to play this brash, arrogant magician, while in my life I'm a shy, quiet person and I grew up with no social life. It's a great outlet to play these characters."

Meanwhile, Eisenberg previously admitted he was "shocked" he was hired for the role in the superhero film.

He said: "I'm kind of shocked any time somebody hires me and even more shocked any time somebody hires me to play a character like Lex Luthor, which I only knew from the public consciousness of him being a bald, brooding villain who is older than me."

He refuses to read what his critics have to say about him as he doesn't want to burst the "bubble" he is working in.

"I view myself in the narrowest possible terms, but I don't watch anything I've been in and I don't read reviews or analysis of movies I've been in, or my plays.

"I have a very specific feeling about what I do. I really like thinking that you're working in this bubble and I can experience these personal emotions without thinking that it's going to be scrutinised by, in some cases, a lot of people, in some cases, a small group of people.

"To take that burden off yourself of thinking about how it's going to be perceived by other people or myself has kind of made me feel that much more comfortable."

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