Jesse Eisenberg reflects on an inspiring great aunt who lived to 106

Actor, writer and director Jesse Eisenberg picked up his first Oscar nomination over a decade ago for his unnerving portrayal of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in the 2011 film The Social Network. He finds himself nominated this year in the category of Best Original Screenplay for his second feature film as writer and director A Real Pain. Eisenberg also stars in the film alongside Kieran Culkin. The two portray cousins navigating complex family dynamics and clashing personalities as they tour Poland in honor of their late grandmother. Eisenberg made his directorial debut with 2022’s When You Finish Saving the World, and has penned three plays and a book of short stories.
More: Filmmaker Jesse Eisenberg breaks down A Real Pain (The Treatment, 2024)
For his Treat, Eisenberg reflects on the influence of his dad's aunt Doris who became a mentor to him while he was in high school. Doris, who lived to 106, adhered to a strict daily routine which he believes contributed to her remarkable longevity. As he was beginning his acting career, he found Doris’ tough love and lack of praise to be exactly the grounding he needed — and still needs. Doris' impact on his life remains deep, so much so that she served as the inspiration for the grandmother character in A Real Pain.
This segment has been edited and condensed for clarity.
I have selected to talk about my dad's aunt Doris. She was probably the most interesting person I knew. She became like a mentor for me when I was 18 or 17. I would see her every Thursday for like three hours, she lived alone and we just had this routine for years. She died in 2019 at 106 years old.
We had this just crazy routine. She lived a life of routines, which is how she accounted for her longevity. She would eat the same thing — carrots, broccoli, and black bean salad with the same salad dressing every day. When I was there, that's what we would eat. And for me, I was starting as an actor in my senior year of high school… I felt like both an actor who was nervous about my next job, but also feeling like, “God, I just, like, won the lottery to be able to be in movies at this age.” It was just crazy, and I needed her kind of grounding.
She was really tough on me. She would never be impressed by anything that I was doing. She was the inspiration for the character in this movie, A Real Pain, where we talk about losing our grandma. She grew up in this house [where] we filmed the movie. Benji (Kieran Culkin) says, “I showed up late to dinner one day and she slapped me in the face.” And, yeah, that was her. If I showed up stoned or late I would get in trouble for it. And thank God I did. You want to get in trouble, you want to have these boundaries, you want to be told the way to live — this is the good way to live. And, you know, I find a decreasing amount of people in my life who are going to tell me that.
She was, to me, the most influential person in my life and she was tough on me in a way that I really needed and still need. And I find being in the arts and actually making a living in the arts [to be] like winning 10 lotteries a day for a lifetime. I'm so lucky. I just need that grounding where I would call her in moments of any time I was celebrated. I would call her to hear that I was not such an important person because it's so… I just recognize it myself. It's so unhealthy to start to believe any of that stuff about yourself.
Anyway, I miss her so much. This movie would have been dedicated to her if my producers allowed me to make a dedication page on the credits. I imagine I'll continue to write about her in various forms because she had such an impact on my life.