Jesse Adam Eisenberg (born October 5, 1983) is an American actor. He has played notable roles in films such as Adventureland, The Squid and the Whale and Zombieland.

Early life

Eisenberg was born in Queens, New York City, New York, the son of Amy, who worked as a clown, and Barry Eisenberg, who ran a hospital and later became a college professor. His sister, Hallie Kate Eisenberg, is a former child actress. His family is Jewish. Eisenberg was raised in Queens and New Jersey, attending the East Brunswick Public Schools at Frost School, Hammarskjold Middle School, Churchill Junior High School, and his sophomore year at East Brunswick High School.

Eisenberg had originally applied to New York University but declined enrollment in order to complete a film role. He subsequently enrolled at The New School in New York.

Career

Eisenberg made his Broadway debut as an understudy in a 1996 revival of Summer and Smoke. He made his screen debut on the 1999 television series Get Real, which was canceled in 2000. After appearing in the made-for-television film Lightning: Fire from the Sky, he starred in the independent film, Roger Dodger (for which he won an award at the San Diego film festival), and in The Emperor's Club, both of which were released in 2002 to generally positive reviews.

In 2005, Eisenberg appeared in Cursed, a horror film directed by Wes Craven, and The Squid and the Whale, a well-reviewed independent drama also starring Laura Linney and Jeff Daniels. His stage credits include Scarcity at the Atlantic Theater Company (2007) and a workshop production of Lyle Kessler's Orphans in Los Angeles (2006). In 2007, he starred opposite Richard Gere and Terrence Howard in The Hunting Party, a comic thriller in which he plays a young journalist in Bosnia.

In 2009, Eisenberg played the lead role in Adventureland, a comedy directed by Greg Mottola and filmed in Kennywood Park near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Filming ended in October 2007 and the movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009. Fellow cast members included Kristen Stewart and Bill Hader. In November 2007, Eisenberg was cast in an indie comic-drama, Holy Rollers. He plays a young Hasidic Jew who gets lured into becoming an ecstasy dealer. Filming took place in New York in 2008. After Zombieland, Eisenberg will star in another horror film, Camp Hope, directed by George Van Buskirk.

He plans to write for stage and screen.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Lightning: Fire from the Sky	Eric Dobbs
2002	The Emperor's Club	Louis Masoudi
	Roger Dodger	Nick
2004	The Village	Jamison
2005	The Squid and the Whale	Walt Berkman
	Cursed	Jimmy
2007	The Education of Charlie Banks	Charlie
	The Hunting Party	Benjamin Strauss
2009	Adventureland	James Brennan
	Zombieland	Columbus
2010	The Social Network	Mark Zuckerberg

References

1. Jesse Eisenberg Biography - Yahoo! Movies
2. Ross, Mary Anne. "‘Same sweet kid,’ but now he’s a movie star: Jesse Eisenberg, 23, tells local audience about his roles in major films", Old Bridge Suburban, December 14, 2006. Accessed December 9, 2007. "Growing up in East Brunswick, Eisenberg attended the Frost and Hammarskjold schools and Churchill Junior High School. He went to East Brunswick High School for one year before switching to a performing arts school in New York."
3. http://gothamist.com/2007/09/12/jesse_eisenberg.php
4. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1091722/
5. Jesse Eisenberg Topline's 'Camp Hope' Horror Film
6. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,1116258,00.html

External links

• Interview in The Oregon Herald
• Q&A with Zombieland star, Jesse Eisenberg - Saturday Night Magazine (October 2009)