Jesse Eisenberg will match gifts to Indiana shelter

In a year in which Jesse Eisenberg starred in the films “American Ultra” and “The End of the Tour,” acted in an off-Broadway play he wrote and became a published author with a collection of short stories, the New York native is offering financial assistance to a domestic violence shelter in Indiana.

Bloomington’s Middle Way House is benefiting from Eisenberg’s goodwill. Founded in 1971, Middle Way provides shelter for women and children fleeing violence at home. Since 2010, a renovated Coca-Cola Bottling Plant has housed the non-profit’s headquarters, six units of permanent housing and a commercial kitchen business.

“It’s an incredible collective,” Eisenberg said during a telephone interview. “It’s the kind of place where the residents go through their wonderful program and end up working there. It’s saved so many lives.”

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Eisenberg, who will portray Lex Luthor in 2016 film “Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice,” said he learned Middle Way could use a boost paying off mortgages during a recent tour of the facility.

An Academy Award nominee for portraying Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in 2010 film “The Social Network,” Eisenberg is characteristically modest when saying his “semi-public profile” can help in fund-raising efforts.

Through the end of 2015, Eisenberg will match donations made to Middle Way up to $100,000. Online donations are processed at MiddleWayHouse.org.

Eisenberg didn’t stumble upon Middle Way by chance. He dated Anna Strout, daughter of Middle Way executive director Toby Strout, for several years. Anna, a 2000 graduate of Indiana University, is director of special projects and events for New York-based non-profit Urban Arts Partnership.

Toby Strout said she’s grateful for Eisenberg’s interest in Middle Way.

“We have been working hard on getting out from under the burden of two mortgages,” Toby Strout said. “We’d made some significant progress, but Jesse’s gift will eat up a nice portion of it.”

Known for a knotty, rapid-fire vocal cadence, Eisenberg said he’s frequently visited Bloomington and Carmel, where Anna’s late father, documentary filmmaker Ben Strout, lived.

“I love it,” he said of Indiana. “It moves at a bit of a slower pace, so people seem a little more patient with me.”

Eisenberg talked with The Star about his book, authors he admires and his work with Woody Allen:

Freshman fable: Published by Grove Press in September, Eisenberg’s “Bream Gives Me Hiccups & Other Stories” offers absurd and neurotic scenarios ranging from a 9-year-old’s restaurant reviews to what it would be like to have sportscaster Marv Albert as a therapist. Serving as a centerpiece of sorts is short story “My Roommate Stole My Ramen: Letters from a Frustrated Freshman.” Eisenberg said he didn’t know the arc of Harper Jablonski’s tragicomic year before writing about it. “If a character feels realistic to me, they seem to take on a life of their own and dictate where the story goes,” Eisenberg said. “The stories are always better when they’re not pre-planned, especially if they’re character-based stories. This girl is having a difficult time adapting to college life. Her voice is so clear to me. I could write several books in her voice.” Three plays by Eisenberg —“The Revisionist” (2013), “Asuncion” (2013) and “The Spoils” (2015) — have been published as books.

On Woody: Currently working on a Woody Allen film being made in New York and Los Angeles, Eisenberg said the “Annie Hall” director serves as a primary comedic influence on his writing. “He was able to write about everything that he was interested in, regardless of whether the public was currently obsessed with it,” said Eisenberg, who previously starred in 2012 Allen movie “To Rome with Love.” “He wrote about philosophy and psychology but also sports and pop culture. That’s what I wanted to do with (‘Bream Gives Me Hiccups’): Write about all the things I’m interested in and just hope that in a Venn diagram of interests, that some of my interests overlap with the readers. That’s in contrast to somebody who’s kind of taking the pulse on popular items and commenting on them. Which I don’t really do well.”

Expert roles: In addition to “Batman V Superman” and the Allen project, 2016 will bring “Now You See Me: The Second Act” — sequel to the movie that featured Eisenberg in the role of an accomplished close-up magician. In one of his most memorable pre-“The Social Network” roles, Eisenberg played a teenager in “The Squid and the Whale” who attempts to pass off Pink Floyd’s “Hey You” as an original composition at a school talent show. He said challenges of dexterity can dominate an actor’s focus. “Whenever actors have to do anything that requires real skill sets besides acting, it’s incredibly nerve-wracking,” Eisenberg said. “You think these people, who are so comfortable at going on camera or on talk shows, would be fine at playing a few chords on a guitar for a few minutes in a movie where if you screw up you’d be able to redo it immediately. But it’s terrifying.”

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Authors to admire: Indianapolis native Kurt Vonnegut ranks among Eisenberg’s favorite novelists. “He was somebody who was able to write, kind of like George Saunders (author of “Tenth of December: Stories”) today, where he established these bizarre worlds and then populated them with real feeling and pathos,” Eisenberg said. “It’s great. I would aspire to that if I had more skill.” The cover blurb of “Bream Gives Me Hiccups” is supplied by “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” author Sherman Alexie, who wrote that Eisenberg’s stories are, “Brilliantly witty, deeply intelligent, and just plain hilarious.” “I’m so honored that he would do that,” Eisenberg said. “We have a similar sense of humor. He loves basketball. He’s obviously very interested in exploring interactions between different cultures. That was my interest of study in college.” Eisenberg, 31, attended The New School in New York, where he majored in liberal arts with a focus on democracy and cultural pluralism.

Lending a hand: On Oct. 10, noted Indiana University rock ‘n’ roll professor Glenn Gass will present a lecture/sing-along titled “Women Rock!” in Bloomington to raise funds for Middle Way House. Toby Strout said Eisenberg’s pledge brings increased publicity to the shelter. “We get a little bit more attention than we might otherwise get,” Strout said. “It’s one of the boons of celebrity: People pay attention. It’s not easy to find people who are willing to put their celebrity on their line for you.” Eisenberg said Middle Way is fortunate to have Strout in a leadership role. “It’s so inspiring, especially with the nature of my work, which is so public but often times feels less than heroic,” Eisenberg said. “Her work, which is not public at all, couldn’t be more heroic.”

Call Star reporter David Lindquist at (317) 444-6404. Follow him on Twitter: @317Lindquist.