Jesse Eisenberg’s decision to donate a kidney stemmed from an experience filming Now You See Me that helped him overcome a phobia.
Jesse Eisenberg’s decision to donate a kidney stemmed from an experience filming Now You See Me.
The 42-year-old actor recently announced he will be having one of his organs removed for transplant next month and he’s now explained how overcoming his fear of heights to shoot a scene as J. Daniel Atlas in the 2013 film led to him conquering a fear of needles by becoming a blood donor, and the natural “next step” was to help someone else with the altruistic donation.
Jesse explained to E! News: “There’s a scene where the characters are on stage and we are in a harness, and we get pulled up to the top of the stage. So we essentially fly up to the top of the rafters.
“We were about to take a long break and I asked the effects people, ‘Do you mind if I stay up here? I really like being up here.’”
Jesse explained he had always had a fear of heights but wasn’t scared because he had a purpose.
He continued: “I was up there for the part – for a movie.
“Then I thought, ‘I’ve always had a fear of needles. I wonder if I start donating blood, I won’t have a fear of needles because I’m doing it for a reason – for a good reason.
“And so I started donating blood and I realised I had no fear of needles anymore.
“I realised when I have a purpose, when I’m doing something, then I have no hesitation.”
Jesse – who has reprised his role in the third installment of the franchise, Now You See Me, Now You Don’t – detailed his kidney donation plan at the end of October.
He told the Today show: “I just have so much blood in me, and I feel like I should spill it.
“I really like doing it, and I don’t know why.
“I’m actually donating my kidney in six weeks. I really am.”
Host Craig Melvin responded: “That’s amazing.”
Jesse went on to say: “I got, like, bitten by the blood donation bug. I love it.
“I’m doing an altruistic donation (in) mid-December.”
Speaking separately to Today.com, the A Real Pain star said: “It’s essentially risk-free and so needed. I think people will realise that it’s a no-brainer, if you have the time and the inclination.”
The Fleishman Is in Trouble actor – who has eight-year-old Banner with wife Anna Strout – explained that under the National Kidney Foundation’s family voucher programme, his own relatives would receive priority if they ever required a kidney donation in the future.
He added: “The way it works now is you can put a list of whoever you would like to be the first to be at the top of the list. So it’s risk-free for my family, as well.”
Jesse Eisenberg explains how Now You See Me influenced kidney donation plan
