Zombieland’s Jesse Eisenberg

He was raised in New York with a professional clown mother so neurotic he now has irrational fears but, to his shock, Jesse Eisenberg is one of the new breed of nerdy sex symbols. The actor — who appeared in 2002’s Rodger Dodger and 2005’s Cursed and The Squid and the Whale — plays Kristen Stewart’s Adventureland love interest and stars in current release Zombieland with Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin.

Eisenberg, 26 — who lives in New York with this girlfriend of 7 years, Anna, 32, started out in theatre as a child — writes plays, is putting the finishing touches on his first novel and is having his musical, Me Time, about the world’s most self-indulgent woman, produced.

While undertaking an anthropology degree at New York’s the New School, he also found time to play facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in David Fincher’s upcoming The Social Network, which also features Justin Timberlake. Eisenberg gives Who the lowdown on comedy horror Zombieland, about four dysfunctional humans attempting to survive in a world overrun by the undead.

What was the most challenging part of making Zombieland?
I don’t really do action-oriented movies much. This is the first movie I did shooting on video as opposed to film so there is the challenge of being able to film for very long periods of time without stopping, sometimes 20 minutes. We could also use it to our advantage because the director [Ruben Fleischer] was encouraging us to improvise so we would be able to improvise without stopping for longer periods of time.

What was it like to work with Woody Harrelson?
I was initially so intimidated because I know how funny Woody is. What I didn’t realise is how much he likes to improvise and how much he wanted to improvise and I had my audition with him and I loved it. I felt so nervous because he is so funny and he is so quick and there are four characters in the movie and we’re together the whole movie and we would improvise the whole time and he was the only one who was able to keep a straight face. Not one time during the 50 days of filming did he start laughing and I laughed every other minute because everything he said is hysterical.

How did it feel to kill a clown zombie? Disrespectful?
Yes. I felt terrible. I have not told my mother. My mum was a clown for 25 years when I was growing up at local birthday parties in Queens. And my character’s biggest fear is of clowns. Although my mum said she wore small shoes and no red nose because she said that’s what actually frightened kids the most. My dad is a sociologist, my mum was a clown so he told her what scares kids and she dressed accordingly.

If the world was ending and you could save five people who would you save and why?
Maybe just five game show hosts so they can announce all the things I’m doing during the day. Probably all announcers and game show hosts because as a narcissist I’d like my life to be described as professionally as possible.

How do you see yourselves and your career in ten years?
I don’t know. I’m absolutely mystified every time I get into something. I think it’s a bad decision on the part of whoever made it. So I’m so surprised. I hope to fizzle out quietly.

How would you kill humanity?
Kill them softly with our song.

What did your mother think you were good at, and what do you think you’re good at?
I think my mum wanted me to stay home with her. She used to tell me if I go outside something bad will happen, if I go in a pool I will drown. She used to wake me up in the middle of the night and say she was having a nightmare that I was drowning so she was very good at trying to keep me at her side and it’s turned me into a recluse and I think I’m good at nothing because of the trauma that that caused.

What’s your worst fear?
Getting a cavity filled because I hate hygiene. I mean, I love the feeling of getting a cavity filled, I just don’t want to know my mouth is better for it.

* Zombieland is in cinemas now

* For an interview with Jesse Eisenberg’s Zombieland co-star Emma Stone, check out WHO Magazine, on sale now