Actor Jesse Eisenberg Says Fatherhood Made Him ‘A Lot Happier’

Published: March 14, 2024

Actor Jesse Eisenberg Says Fatherhood Made Him ‘A Lot Happier’

By Movieguide® Contributor

Actor Jesse Eisenberg says that becoming a dad has made him “a lot happier.”

“My general feeling is I spent the first 35 — sorry, 33 — years of my life worrying about myself,” Eisenberg explained to PEOPLE. “And a lot of these concerns were just narcissistic, self-involved, fantastical problems that I created to just ruin my life.”

He continued, “And then I spent the next seven years of my life worrying about real things, worrying about another person. And I know it sounds like a self-serving excuse, but it’s made me a lot happier.”

Eisenberg shares son Banner, 7, with wife Anna Strout. The couple dated for a decade before splitting in 2012. They reunited in 2015 and got married two years later.

“I married an amazing woman,” he said during an appearance on TODAY. “I’m praying [Banner will] be like her, just be like her, please just be everything like her. And for the most part, he’s heading in that direction which is the superior choice.”

He spoke further about the effect parenthood has had on his mental health in a 2018 interview.

“Just selfishly, having a child is the best thing anyone can do for their own anxiety, if your anxiety is like mine, which is to say based in fantasy,” he said. “Because I spent the first 30 years worrying about things that were invisible, and now I get to worry about something that’s visible, and there’s nothing that’s more mentally healthy than worrying about something that’s actually existing in the world, rather than worrying about something that doesn’t exist at all.”

Eisenberg isn’t the only celebrity who has talked about how becoming a father has made him happier. Movieguide® previously reported:

Post Malone says fatherhood is “the happiest I’ve ever been.”

The singer told GQ that being a dad to his daughter, born in 2022, is “great…She’s huge, she’s super tall, and she’s such a legend, and I’m just happy to see her.”

He also spoke about the joy he’s found in fatherhood while appearing on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast.

“[I’m the] happiest I’ve ever been,” Malone enthused.

He continued, “I’ve always wanted kids and like a big family.”