Jesse Eisenberg heaped praise on Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti, the co-stars of his latest feature, The Debut, this morning during a press conference at the San Sebastián Film Festival, where the musical comedy is set to make its European debut this week.
“We filmed the first two days of the movie in one day, and they were big days with musical numbers, because the two actors were just so great,” Eisenberg said of Moore and Giamatti.
Eisenberg told journalists in San Sebastián that he specifically wrote The Debut with Moore in mind. The writer-director said he has closely admired her work since the pair collaborated on Eisenberg’s debut feature as a director, When You Finish Saving the World.
“The first movie I did with Julianne was like five years ago, called When You Finish Saving the World. I’m not sure if it ever played in France. It barely played in America. It barely played at my parents’ house,” Eisenberg joked.
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“She’s amazing in it, and she plays this character who is emotionally guarded,” Eisenberg added.
“It’s very different than The Debut. But there’s one little scene in that movie where she started doing this unusual voice, and that voice was in my head for two years. And when I started writing this movie, I just thought it had to be that voice and had to be that actress.”
Eisenberg continued to say he realized he had written himself into a “big problem” when he finished the screenplay.
“If the actress you wrote it for doesn’t want to do it, you’re screwed,” Eisenberg said. Thankfully for him, Moore signed on.
Eisenberg later described Moore and Giamatti as his “favorite actor and actress.”
The Debut is Eisenberg’s third feature as a director. Oscar-winning Moore plays a shy woman who is unexpectedly cast in a local production of an original musical. Under the spell of the strong-willed and enigmatic director (Giamatti), she loses herself in the role and the high-stakes world of this community theatre production.
Moore and Giamatti are joined in the cast by Eisenberg, Halle Bailey, Havana Rose Liu, Bernadette Peters, Colton Ryan, Lilli Cooper, Maulik Pancholy, and Bonnie Milligan.
Eisenberg’s last film, A Real Pain, notched two Oscar noms for Original Screenplay and Kieran Culkin in Best Supporting Actor, winning for the latter.
A24 has set a Dec. 11 limited opening for the film in the United States. Lionsgate will release The Debut in the UK on January 15.
