By Jeffrey Ortega/ reporter
Students heard tips for dealing with fame and stress from actor Jesse Eisenberg Nov. 4.
The Social Network star participated in a National Society of Leadership and Success interactive webcast live-streamed across the country including NE.
Eisenberg said he appeared in his first movie at the age of 19 but had some previous acting experience.
“Before movies, I would do some plays and get started with getting over stage fright,” he said. “I had terrible anxiety. With movies, though, I was not in front of a live audience, so if I messed up, I could always redo it again, and that helped preparing me for the role.”
NE student Xavier Loudermilk enjoyed hearing about Eisenberg’s experiences.
“I liked how Jesse Eisenberg talked about his life and made it more personal by talking about how he got where he is,” Loudermilk said.
Eisenberg started studying anthropology but said he had no plans and worked from desperation.
Another dilemma Eisenberg faced was dealing with public criticism. He said he simply would not let himself be put in that situation.
“There are two kinds of discouragement,” he said. “One is bad discouragement, and one is helpful.”
Bad discouragement is when people are putting other people down and doing it to belittle people, Eisenberg said. On the other hand, the helpful discouragement is when people are on someone’s side and only tells that person what was messed up to get better and do a better job next time.
NE student Jimmy Yerby said he thought the speech was good although he has no intention of writing or acting.
“But I can see how I can use this to help me out going anywhere in life,” he said.
Eisenberg said people need a good influential person in their lives. Even if that person has nothing to do with their career goals, it is still a good idea to have one to help reach a dream.
Eisenberg said everyone should have a main goal and a subgoal.
“If you cannot reach your main goal and go for your subgoal, you never know,” he said. “Maybe by reaching your subgoal, you’re actually helping your main goal.”
Eisenberg offered advice when stuck in a situation.
“If you have an idea and can’t work on it, write it down and keep it safe so you can come back to it later,” he said.
NE student James Sanders appreciated the advice.
“I liked his idea of having a backup plan because you never know when you could need it,” he said.
