Born Oct. 5, 1983 in Bayside, Queens, NY, Eisenberg was raised by his father, Barry, a former hospital administrator who later became a college professor, and his mother, Amy, a professional clown. Also in the family was his sister, Hallie Kate, who became known in the late 1990s after starring in a series of popular Pepsi commercials. Though she became famous for being the curly-cued Pepsi girl, Eisenberg embarked on his own acting career, making his Broadway debut in a revival of Tennessee Williams' "Summer and Smoke" (1996). Two years later, he received good reviews for his part in "The Broadway Kids Sing Broadway," a national touring company that featured kids aged 8-16 performing wholesome, child-oriented entertainment. After moving with the family to New Jersey when he was 16, where he attended East Brunswick High School, Eisenberg made his television debut in the short-lived series "Get Real" (Fox, 1999-2000), an irreverent dramedy about a dysfunctional San Francisco family that also starred a young Anne Hathaway. He followed with "Lightning: Fire from the Sky" (ION, 2001), which paired him with John Schneider as a father-son duo who struggle to save their Missouri town from a potentially destructive storm.
Eisenberg took the next step in his career with a starring role in "Roger Dodger" (2002), an independent comedy about a teenager who turns to his ladies' man uncle (Campbell Scott) in New York City for help chatting up women and losing his virginity. The young actor more than held his own against Scott, Isabella Rossellini, Jennifer Beals and Elizabeth Berkley in the dark, disturbing flick. Following "Roger Dodger," Eisenberg moved toward larger studio films, though he traded off with small supporting roles. After playing a party-minded student being tasked to better himself by a dedicated private school teacher in "The Emperor's Club" (2002), Eisenberg had a small part in M. Night Shyamalan's supernatural thriller, "The Village" (2004). Eisenberg next received good reviews and much attention for his role in "The Squid and the Whale" (2005), writer-director Noah Baumbach's coming-of-age drama about two young boys (Eisenberg and Owen Kline) dealing with the divorce of their parents (Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney). The film earned considerable critical praise and several award nominations, including a nod for Best Supporting Male at the Independent Spirit Awards for Eisenberg.
Having proven himself a qualified up-and-comer, Eisenberg followed a supporting turn in Wes Craven's horror thriller "Cursed" (2005) with "The Hunting Party" (2007), a comedic crime thriller about three journalists (Eisenberg, Richard Gere and Terrence Howard) who make a half-hearted attempt at capturing an alleged architect of ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, only to be mistaken for CIA agents. Eisenberg became a bona fide star with the hit horror comedy, "Zombieland" (2009), in which he played a neurosis-laden nerd forced into survival mode following the zombie apocalypse. Joining a bad-ass Zombie hunter (Woody Harrelson) and two scamming sisters (Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin), he fights off an ever-increasing horde - and has an unfortunate confrontation with actor Bill Murray - on his way to Pacific Playland, where all hope to recapture some sense of normalcy. A surprise hit, "Zombieland" was both bitingly funny and chock full of gory violence, all of which added up to a successful run at the box office.Meanwhile, Eisenberg starred in two indie coming-of-age dramas, "The Education of Charlie Banks" (2009) and "Adventureland" (2009), before being seen in a slew of smaller films the following year, including "The Living Wake" (2010), "Solitary Man" (2010) and "Holy Rollers" (2010). But his biggest film of that year was undoubtedly "The Social Network" (2010), director David Fincher's excellent legal drama that chronicled the rise of Facebook and the young billionaires it created. Eisenberg played the social networking site's founder, Mark Zuckerberg, who was alleged to have stolen the idea from two Harvard classmates, including roommate Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), before turning the college-only website into a multi-billion dollar international phenomenon. Almost universally hailed by critics, many of whom put the film atop their year-end Top Ten lists, "The Social Network" provided Eisenberg the rare chance to display his formidable dramatic chops. For his efforts, he received Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award nominations for Best Actor.
* Also Credited As:
Jesse Adam Eisenberg
* Born:
Jesse Adam Eisenberg on October 5, 1983 in Queens, New York, USA
* Job Titles:
Actor
Family
* Father: Barry Eisenberg. Formerly ran a hospital and later became a college professor
* Mother: Amy Eisenberg.
* Sister: Hallie Kate Eisenberg.
* Sister: Kerri Eisenberg.
Education
* East Brunswick High School, East Brunswick , New Jersey
* The New School, New York , New York
Milestones
* 1996 Made his Broadway debut as an understudy in a revival of Summer and Smoke
* 1999 First TV role was on the FOX series, Get Real
* 2002 First lead role was in the independent comedy, Roger Dodger
* 2002 Played a student in Kevin Kline s prep-school class in The Emperor s Club
* 2005 Co-starred in the Wes craven directed horror film, Cursed
* 2005 Played Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney s eldest son in Noah Baumbach s The Squid and the Whale
* 2007 Played a young journalist in The Hunting Party
* 2009 Joined an ensemble cast for Adventureland ; directed by Greg Mottola
* 2009 Starred in the Fred Durst directed The Education of Charlie Banks
* 2010 Cast as Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, directed by David Fincher and scripted by Aaron Sorkin
* 2011 Nominated for the 2011 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
* 2011 Nominated for the 2011 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama ( The Social Network )
* 2011 Nominated for the 2011 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
* 2011 Nominated for the 2011 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role ( The Social Network )
* Became a member of the popular youth singing group, The Broadway Kids
