Jesse Eisenberg was interrupted by a translator when giving a speech at the Cannes 2022 Film Festival: “I have to sum up what you just said”.

At the premiere of his directorial debut, When You Finish Saving the World, Eisenberg accidentally got into a long-winded and quick spiel thanking everyone who contributed to the film in some way. The French translator apologetically interrupted him, saying she needed to sum up what he said so those who didn’t understand English could understand what he said.

Amidst a few laughs in the crowd, Jesse Eisenberg apologised and allowed the translator to do her thing. She quickly recapped everything Eisenberg had said thus far to many cheers amongst the audience.

Jesse Eisenberg is known for playing characters that are prone to a monologuing spiel, such as Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network or Lex Luthor in Batman Vs. Superman, so the idea of him performing an almost villainous speech feels very on-brand for him. However, he immediately apologised and even had a bit of a laugh about the whole situation, stating: “there is not enough cocaine in the South of France to translate me”.

Dakota Johnson, a co-star in The Social Network, recently talked about how Eisenberg largely ignored her on set when talking with Andrew Garfield for Vanity Fair.

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“You were really nice, and Jesse didn’t acknowledge me.”

Garfield tried to defend his co-star, saying that may have been in part due to him really getting into the mindset of the Facebook co-founder. “Oh boy, I don’t know. I feel like I need to defend him in some way. There was maybe some of the Zuckerberg coming through in that moment.”

Garfield continued his defence, saying that Eisenberg “was probably overwhelmed by…” when Johnson teasingly interrupted him with: “By beauty!”

For more on this topic, follow the Film & TV Observer.

Watch Jesse Eisenberg discuss When You Finish Saving the World with Variety here:

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