Jesse Eisenberg thinks his Lex Luthor portrayal was 'so poorly received' it 'actually hurt my career'

As a new Superman movie gears up to hit theaters next year, featuring Nicholas Hoult as the iconic villain Lex Luthor, Jesse Eisenberg is getting very candid about his own portrayal of the baddie in 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

"I was in this Batman movie and the Batman movie was so poorly received, and I was so poorly received," Eisenberg said on a recent episode of the Armchair Expert podcast. "I've never said this before, and it's kind of embarrassing to admit, but I genuinely think it actually hurt my career in a real way because I was poorly received in something so public."

Eisenberg, who briefly reprised the Luthor role in 2017's Justice League, added, "I've been in poorly received things that just don't see the light of day, and for the most part, no one knows. But this was so public, and I don't read notices or reviews or movie press or anything, so I was unaware of how poorly it was received."

Related: Superman trailer reveals first look at Lex Luthor, Guy Gardner, Krypto, and more iconic DC characters

Despite grossing more than $874 million worldwide, Batman v Superman was critically panned, with several critics taking issue with Eisenberg's portrayal.

On the podcast, Eisenberg admitted that the whole ordeal was "depressing," especially given his own feelings about the project. "I loved my role and I loved the movie, doing it and everything," he said. "So I feel just myself is to blame. I'm not like they did me wrong. No. I'm like, 'Oh, I guess I did something wrong there.'"

This isn't the first time Eisenberg has been self-deprecating about the role. He had some blunt advice for Hoult, telling Variety in January: "Don't watch me!"

Jokes aside, he reiterated to the outlet at the time that he did enjoy playing Lex: "Whenever you play a role you feel connected to it. There's no way around it. Any time you do anything, even if it’s a movie that's a Hollywood kind of thing, you connect.”

Related: Jesse Eisenberg 'couldn't stop crying' while filming The End of the Tour with Jason Segel: 'It was just killing me'

Things seem to have worked out for Eisenberg, though. The actor stopped by Armchair Expert to promote his A Real Pain, which he wrote, directed, and stars in. The film, in theaters now, has garnered four Golden Globe nominations, including Best Actor and Best Screenplay for Eisenberg. The American Film Institute also declared the movie to be one of its top 10 films of the year.

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