While the Lex Luthor character was rumored to be a part of the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice story, no one was expecting Warner Bros. to cast 30-year-old Jesse Eisenberg as the iconic villain back in January. With production on the DC superhero adventure still ongoing, Total Film caught up with Jesse Eisenberg, who revealed he didn't take on this iconic role for just a paycheck. In fact, he would have taken on the role for free.

"My father always cautions me against thinking of something as a means to some other end, because then its irresponsible to the 'means' thing...They asked me if I wanted to play the part before they sent me the script. I'm not sure how it worked, but it's something I read with the understanding that I could do the role, If I... [stops] You know, they don't just hand the scripts out. But I really liked it on its own terms. I would do it if it was for free and it was tiny."

He also spoke about working with screenwriter Chris Terrio to figure out who Lex Luthor really is.

"There are some indications of how the character should behave based on the script, and then an actor makes it his or her own. I got to know one of the writers really well, Chris Terrio, and we were able to discuss things at length and figure out who this person is to create a real psychology behind what is, perhaps, in a comic book, a less than totally modern psychology. I can only say I've been asked to play an interesting role: a complicated, challenging person."

When asked about if he would be able to walk down the street without being noticed after Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice comes out, the actor had this to say.

"I've been in things that have been popular before. To say, I can't do that which will appear in thousands of theaters on opening day, but I can do this which will appear in this amount of theaters... It's arbitrary. I realize how popular comic-book movies are, and now, working on one, I realize why they're popular - the story is really good, the dialogue is really good, the artistry behind every department is high, the acting is really good. So if they're all put together with that level of quality..."