Jesse Eisenberg leads James Ponsoldt’s The End of the Tour as David Lipsky, the Rolling Stone reporter who joined David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel) for the final days of the Infinite Jest book tour, the novel that turned him into a critically acclaimed and very popular author. Lipsky knows he needs to return to the office with a juicy story, but he’s also well aware that Wallace isn’t comfortable with his celebrity status nor the thought of his personal life being shared with the public, resulting in a deep yet guarded exchange between the two over the course of their five-day interview.

I always feel a degree of pressure when walking into any interview, but there’s really nothing more nerve-wracking than conducting one for a movie that’s all about the delicate back and forth between interviewee and subject. My self-consciousness aside, Eisenberg had loads of interesting details and anecdotes to share about his experience bringing David Lipsky to screen. Check out what he told me about working with Segel, highlighting both characters' perspectives, the careful placement of David’s recorder in the film and loads more in the video interview below. The End of the Tour hits select theaters on July 31st.

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Image via A24 Films

Jesse Eisenberg:

  • 00:04 - On the casting process for The End of the Tour.
  • 00:38 - Meeting Jason Segel for the first time to help raise financing for the film.
  • 01:09 - Is it common for Eisenberg to help out with financing for movies of this size?
  • 01:48 - How did Eisenberg’s experience as a writer affect his approach to this role?
  • 02:20 - Has Eisenberg ever met someone he’s idolized and seen new, unexpected sides of them?
  • 03:28 - On balancing David Lipsky’s perspective and David Foster Wallace’s perspective in the film.
  • 05:00 - Works by David Foster Wallace that Eisenberg would recommend.
  • 05:24 - On the rehearsal process; spending time with Segel outside of filming.
  • 06:26 - The parallels between The End of the Tour and Eisenberg’s experience doing press for his movies.
  • 07:26 - On the size of the crew and shooting schedule.
  • 08:38 - What happens when you’re on a big movie and have to wait all day to say one line of dialogue.
  • 09:21 - Steering clear of caffeine.
  • 09:36 - Eating a ton of junk food on set.
  • 10:23 - Figuring out when to use the recorder; the recorder as the elephant in the room.
  • 11:12 - Lipsky takes a lot of notes throughout the film; what exactly was Eisenberg writing on set?
  • 11:48 - Did they ever discuss how David Foster Wallace might feel about a movie being made about him?
  • 12:31 - Eisenberg on shaving his head for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
  • 13:03 - Was there any discussion of the title Batman v Superman?
  • 13:20 - Eisenberg on going to Comic-Con.
  • 13:36 - On screenwriter Chris Terrio’s work.

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