San Francisco Frontiers - Jesse Eisenberg channels emotional intensity into 'The Debut'

"Extreme emotions and musicals for me seem like the correct way to behave, which is everybody's overdramatic Eisenberg told reporters Monday at the Toronto International Film Festival. "My inner monologue is a musical."

Starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti, "The Debut" follows Mona, a housewife overlooked by her family, who, despite having no acting experience, auditions for a role in a play.

She lands the part after the actress originally cast in the role drops out of the production.

From there, under the direction of Jerry (Giamatti), Mona gradually disconnects from reality and immerses herself in the play, losing herself in a role that finally puts her in the spotlight.

"It's about an actress, you know, kind of undergoing an existential crisis," Eisenberg said.

Eisenberg, who also wrote the screenplay, said he wanted to tell the story in a dreamlike way, conveying the character's feelings rather than actions.

He drew technical inspiration from "The Double," the 2013 thriller in which he starred under the direction of Richard Ayoade.

"Richard is a real film buff, and him and the cinematographer were just, they were doing such interesting things, lighting, you know, inspired by German Expressionism," Eisenberg explained, referring to a style pioneered in the 1920s and known for dramatic shadows, distorted imagery and a dreamlike atmosphere. "And little things to kind of like shock you" and "create like a feeling of uneasiness."

Eisenberg, who earned an Oscar nomination for his screenplay for the 2024 film "A Real Pain," said he wrote "The Debut" with Moore in mind.

"There's not another human person on this planet in any age, in any language that can do this kind of thing," he said.

Moore returned the compliment, describing Eisenberg's offer as exceptional.

"You never get opportunities like this with this kind of material," said the 65-year-old Oscar-winning actress. "This is really an exquisite piece of writing."

At the film's showing Sunday at the Toronto festival, Moore praised her co-star Paul Giamatti for bringing to life the director who, in trying to draw out what he needs from the budding actress, develops a relationship with her that oscillates between conflict and camaraderie.

"Could not have asked for a better partner than Paul. We had such a great time together, and it was like...a really thrilling exercise," Moore said at the Princess of Wales Theatre, where the audience gave the film a standing ovation. The movie premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado earlier this month.

"It kind of just flowed," Giamatti said. "The map was so clear what he wrote that all we had to do, all I had to do, was just sort of keep it moving and bat the ball back and forth."

He added: "But just to watch her go bananas was so much fun. It was just great."

The Toronto festival concludes on September 20.

V.Perez--SFF