Jesse Eisenberg has no regrets over his decision to leave Hollywood and embrace a quieter life in Indiana.
During a recent interview with CBS News, the 41-year-old actor explained why he joined the growing list of celebrities who have moved out of Tinseltown.
“I lived in Indiana for the last decade on and off,” the “Social Network” star said. “That’s where I feel kind of most comfortable. I’m not somebody who wants to surround myself in an industry that just feels kind of unstable to me.”
Eisenberg recalled that he and his wife Anna Strout previously spent a lot of time in her hometown of Bloomington, Indiana, which he described as “one of the great American cities.” The pair first began dating in 2002 but called it quits in 2012. Eisenberg and Strout rekindled their romance in 2015 and tied the knot two years later.
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“We’ve been going back there for the last 20 years just to visit,” he said of their trips to Bloomington. Eisenberg told CBS News that the couple initially moved to Indiana to care for his late mother-in-law, Toby Strout, after she fell ill.
“Then we had a kid and then the pandemic hit,” said Eisenberg, who shares son Banner, 7, with Strout. “So we wound up being there for several years.”
While living in Bloomington, Eisenberg and Strout worked as volunteers at the domestic violence shelter Middle Way House, where Toby had served as an executive director.
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“During the pandemic, there was no acting work, obviously,” Eisenberg said. “And so I was just volunteering every day at the shelter.”
The “Zombieland” actor, who launched his professional acting career at the age of 16, said that working at the shelter was “the happiest time of my life.”
“I was painting walls and fixing garbage disposals and it was like — it was the first time I had, like, a real job,” he said. “It sounds strange to say that, but at 38 years old was the first time I had a real job. And I just loved it so much. I loved being able to accomplish something where there was no critique of it, you know what I mean?”
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He continued, “I could be active and working and helping and doing something that’s really contributing nicely, but not in a way where I was receiving praise, which somehow sometimes feels like it negates the contribution or receiving criticism, which hurts because it’s criticism. And so it’s just like this amazing feeling. I tell my wife all the time, it’s the first time I felt like if I never got another acting part, I would be OK in this world because I like doing things.”
“It was kind of like revelatory for me to have a real job at that age and love it,” he said.
Eisenberg is currently gearing up for the 2025 Academy Awards after receiving a best screenplay nomination for penning the script of his movie “A Real Pain.” The New York native also directed the buddy-road comedy drama and co-starred alongside Kieran Culkin, who was nominated for best supporting actor.
While speaking with CBS News, Eisenberg noted that his life in Indiana also affords him more time to concentrate on writing screenplays, rather than competing for acting gigs.
“I like to keep as many feet outside the door of the entertainment industry as possible, so I don’t feel like I’m somebody constantly trying to pound the pavement and knock on doors and get jobs,” he said. “I just don’t want to be that person. It doesn’t fit me. So being in Indiana from, like, a professional perspective was really great because it made me feel like, you know, if I’m not working now, that’s fine.”
“And I have this other life and I could write during the day,” he added. “And so, being in Indiana allowed me to have, like, an extra foot outside the door of the entertainment industry that in a way that was really comfortable.”
