"Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" director Zack Snyder really wanted to get "The Social Network" star Jesse Eisenberg to be a part of his DC superhero movie, but when he first offered the actor a role in it, he turned it down.
"Let's call it a secret, but nevertheless it was the exact opposite of Lex Luthor," Snyder shared with The L.A. Times. When Eisenberg declined, Snyder then scrambled to offer him another role. When he was given the "cooler" role of Luthor, Eisenberg simply could not resist.
"I feel like once (Eisenberg) found out who Lex was he embraced it," the director said. "Once you kind of start digging into Lex, it's a bit of a scary thing to be that guy. I don't think he just goes 'Oh, I'll just be that guy and then when I go home I'm not him.' I think the thing with Jesse is he wasn't immune to the reality of playing a super-scary character."
As happy as he was to bag the role of the super villain, Eisenberg admitted that he was daunted by several challenges.
"The only difference between this movie and everything else I've ever been in is this has an audience that has prior expectations, and that's the only thing that I find disconcerting because it feels like some people are occasionally ready to get angry at me for the part they haven't seen me play yet. It's bewildering," he said.
What fans have already noticed is the fact that Eisenberg's Luthor still has a full crop of hair, even when the villain is known for his trademark bald head.
When asked to share details about it, Eisenberg could only crack jokes: "Literally, there would be one of those Wile E. Coyote things where the piano drops from the sky randomly on his head. That's what will happen to me."
On a more serious note, however, Eisenberg said that fans will simply have to wait until the movie comes out to find out how Luthor loses all of his hair.
"When you see the movie, you'll see. It's the greatest scene that I've ever gotten to take part in - it accounts for the change in hair," he said.
"The character has a core of reality. (Luthor) has a back story that's tragic and an emotional inner life that's authentic. That's in the movie. It was my interest in playing the character with a real emotional core, and this writer, Chris Terrio's interest in creating a character that seemed viable in reality," he added.
"Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" will be released on March 25, 2016.
