Claim: Jesse Eisenberg worked with Kevin Asch.

Jesse Adam Eisenberg -LRB- born October 5 , 1983 -RRB- is an American actor , author and playwright . Born and raised in New York City , Eisenberg began acting in plays at an early age , and made his television debut with the short-lived comedy-drama series Get Real -LRB- 1999 -- 2000 -RRB- . Following his first leading role in the comedy-drama film Roger Dodger -LRB- 2002 -RRB- , he appeared in the drama film The Emperor 's Club -LRB- 2002 -RRB- , the psychological thriller film The Village -LRB- 2004 -RRB- , the comedy-drama film The Squid and the Whale -LRB- 2005 -RRB- and the drama film The Education of Charlie Banks -LRB- 2007 -RRB- . In 2006 , Eisenberg was the recipient of the Vail Film Festival Rising Star Award for his role in The Living Wake .   In 2009 , he starred in the comedy-drama film Adventureland with Kristen Stewart and the horror comedy Zombieland with Emma Stone , Abigail Breslin , and Woody Harrelson . He then played Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in the 2010 film The Social Network , for which he received nominations for various awards , including the BAFTA , Golden Globe , and Academy Award . He also starred in Holy Rollers -LRB- 2010 -RRB- , which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival .   Since , he has gone on to voice the main character , Blu , a male Spix 's macaw , in the animated films Rio -LRB- 2011 -RRB- and Rio 2 -LRB- 2014 -RRB- ; starred in the 2011 action-comedy film 30 Minutes or Less ; starred in two films by Woody Allen , To Rome with Love -LRB- 2012 -RRB- and Café Society . He played a magician in the heist film Now You See Me -LRB- 2013 -RRB- and its 2016 sequel ; re-teamed with Kristen Stewart for the action-comedy film American Ultra -LRB- 2015 -RRB- ; and portrayed supervillain Lex Luthor opposite Ben Affleck , Henry Cavill , and Gal Gadot in Batman v Superman : Dawn of Justice , which was released in March 2016 .   Eisenberg has contributed pieces to The New Yorker and McSweeney 's websites . He has written and starred in three plays for the New York stage : Asuncion , The Revisionist , and The Spoils . Eisenberg 's first book , Bream Gives Me Hiccups : and Other Stories , a short story collection , was released in September 2015 .