Jesse Eisenberg is about to grow up

Mazel tovs are definitely in order. Though already 26 years old, Jesse Eisenberg tells TONY he was recently bar mitzvahed.

“I dropped out of Hebrew school when I was 12,” the East Brunswick–raised actor says, offering the jittery blush he’s famous for. “I felt a separation; it didn’t mean anything to me. But in spending time with the Hasidic community for this new film, I wanted to become closer. So they gave me a bar mitzvah.” Unfailingly polite, Eisenberg nods his thanks.

Holy Rollers, the kind of scrappy indie that used to dominate Sundance—made on an 18-day shoot and a million-dollar budget—may prove especially apt given Eisenberg’s personal rite of passage. The movie shows a deeper, more mature side to the star of The Squid and the Whale and Zombieland, who is growing tired of being adorable.

In it, Eisenberg plays Orthodox Williamsburger Sam Gold, who strays from his path toward the rabbinate when he becomes an Ecstasy dealer. (The script is based on a real-life importation scheme from the late ’90s.) Cut loose from his family and community, Sam falls into a spiral of waywardness.

“Sam is sad, more than anything else,” Eisenberg offers, leaning forward in our booth at a Chelsea bar. “He doesn’t feel comfortable in his own skin. It’s a universal feeling, straying somewhere else more exciting, even if the new path is…” The performer pauses, then lands on the right word. “Nefarious. Yes, nefarious and even dangerous.”

Does he like nefarious these days? The wiry energy you expect from Eisenberg, an actor renowned for his neurotics (as in Solitary Man, also out this week), hangs in the air. But if modulating his onscreen image is the plan, he’s not crowing about it.

“I approach all of my characters in the same way,” he counters. “You can’t plan for some long-term career trajectory. And in the other movie I just finished, my part has zero meekness.” Eisenberg is referring to Mark Zuckerberg, the inventor of Facebook, whom he plays in David Fincher’s forthcoming dramatization, The Social Network. By the time that film comes out, the actor may be close to unrecognizable.

“He’s always felt like an old soul,” says director Dylan Kidd, who gave Eisenberg his first movie with 2002’s Roger Dogder. (In it, he was a naive learner at the feet of Campbell Scott’s sour womanizer, thus setting a kind of passive template.) “We always knew we had a great role for Campbell, but it never occurred to us that we needed a Ginger Rogers to play against his Fred Astaire—able to do it all backwards.” Kidd is still in awe. “There was a period when Michael Cera was in everything and I was like, Dammit, Jesse should get some of that.”

Even at age 18, though, Eisenberg hinted at something more potent and shrewd. In truth, the Cera comparison is an unfair one.

“Jesse has a lack of self-consciousness that all actors go for,” says Justin Bartha, 31, of his Holy Rollers costar. “There’s no vanity there. That’s what I aspire to, when I create my own performances. He has that in spades.” Bartha, toggling time between his Broadway turn in Lend Me a Tenor and anticipation for The Hangover 2 (“I haven’t received a script yet!”), is enjoying a moment promoting a serious film with a “brotherly friend” he’s known for years on the NYC drama circuit.

Eisenberg’s future holds screenwriting—he won’t reveal any details—though not directing. “You can ask David Fincher about all that technical stuff and the difference between takes 18 and 36—I know nothing about that,” Eisenberg deflects. “Frankly, I’m still surprised when I get chosen to be in a movie, and I don’t mean that with false modesty. Justin is much more impressive than me. He immerses himself so deeply.”

Just then, Bartha bursts into the room where we’re chatting. There’s some teasing. Plans are afoot for later; you can tell Eisenberg wants to go. “We were just talking about you,” he says shyly, taking out a red baseball cap. He will grow up soon, but it’s clear he’s still young.

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