One of my favorite films at this year’s SXSW was writer-directorRiley Sterns’dark comedyThe Art of Self-Defense. In the film,Jesse Eisenbergplays a timid bookkeeper, who joins a neighborhood karate studio to learn how to protect himself after being attacked by a motorcycle gang. At the dojo, he gains a newfound sense of confidence for the first time thanks to his charismatic and mysterious Sensei (Alessandro Nivola). But things are not as they appear, and as he dives deeper into this new world, he’s forced to make choices that could change everything. Trust me,The Art of Self-Defenseis something special and the script takes a number of left and right turns you won’t expect, with razor-sharp dialogue and a completely original take on the world of karate.
Shortly after seeing the film, Jesse Eisenberg, Alessandro Nivola,Imogen Pootsand Riley Sterns stopped by the Collider studio in Austin. During the wide-ranging interview they talked about how the movie came together, the awesome dialogue, why the cast was so excited to make the film, what Stearns learned from early screenings, and you can even watch Eisenberg do aFace/Offimpression. In addition, towards the end of the interview, Poots teases theY: The Last ManTV show and Eisenberg talks about returning forZombieland 2, revealing multiple people wrote multiple scripts over the years.
Check out what they had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about.
Finally, I’d also like to take a moment to give special thanks to our Collider Studio partner, A-List Communications. At the Supper Suite venue in Austin, libations were flowing courtesy of El Tesoro Tequila, Blue Moon Belgian White, and Hint Water. Without these fine folks, we wouldn’t be able to share conversations about movies likeThe Art of Self-Defensewith all of you, so another big thank you to our partners for their support.
Jesse Eisenberg, Alessandro Nivola, Imogen Poots and Riley Sterns:
