From ‘Zombieland’ to Sundance: Jesse Eisenberg on Teaming With Emma Stone for ‘When You Finish Saving the World’

variety.com:

Angelique Jackson For Jesse Eisenberg’s feature directorial debut, “When You Finish Saving the World,” he crafted a quirky family dramedy about a woman Evelyn (Julianne Moore) and her “oblivious” son Ziggy (Finn Wolfhard) as they struggle to connect.The movie made its debut as an opening day selection for Sundance 2022 nearly one year to the day after Eisenberg sat down with Variety to discuss the Audible originals drama on which this script was based.

Joining the Variety Virtual Sundance Studio presented by Audible, the emerging filmmaker looked back on the project’s journey from audio production to A24 release.“I feel so fortunate to have been able to work on something during this time, because I know so many people who would normally be working who just were not able to,” Eisenberg said, taking in the full circle moment. “I feel very fortunate that we were able to finish it and that the movie is coming out, and it’s seemingly on time, according to the normal process of making an independent film.” For that first interview, Eisenberg and Wolfhard were already in Albuquerque, New Mexico (which stood in for the nameless town in Indiana where the film is set) and about a week away from starting production.

The Oscar-nominated actor turned accomplished playwright, author and stage director certainly didn’t seem nervous about taking on the task, telling Variety how he managed the stress of directing his first movie.“My background is in theater — it’s a very controlled environment, because when you’re doing a play, you rehearse for six weeks, no one’s changing any of the words, you know what you’re gonna do and you set it,” Eisenberg explains. “[With] movies, you just have to be open to the challenges. [If] you’re shooting.