Jesse Eisenberg Wrote Seven Songs for The Debut — and Cried Writing One
Jesse Eisenberg wrote seven original songs for Nosy Neighbors, the stage show inside his new musical comedy The Debut, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
The film stars Julianne Moore and reaches theatres on Dec. 11. It was selected to close the London Film Festival, according to Variety.
The Debut follows a shy housewife, played by Moore, who is cast in a community theatre production and loses herself in the performance, The Hollywood Reporter reported. The show she joins is Nosy Neighbors. It is described as an upbeat musical, Variety noted in its review.
One number is already earmarked for awards season. The song “This City May Have Chewed Me Up (But It Hasn’t Spit Me Out)” is getting a best original song push, The Hollywood Reporter reported. That is the contest for music written directly for a film.
Eisenberg talked through his writing method at a screening on the Fox lot. He appeared alongside composer Emile Mosseri, with songwriter Justin Hurwitz moderating. Eisenberg said he is not classically trained. He writes on piano or while playing guitar.
He called “This City May Have Chewed Me Up” very personal. He said he was crying while writing it. The inspiration, he said, was 1990s musicals that fetishised New York City. Short version: love letter, bruises included.
Eisenberg has also spoken about The Debut at the San Sebastian Film Festival, Variety reported. The festival run comes ahead of the December release.
What makes this stand out is the double job. Eisenberg is the film-maker behind the movie and, for seven songs, the songwriter behind the show inside it. For fans, this means the theatre scenes are not borrowed. They are his.
