Jesse Eisenberg: 'I only act on stage to get my plays produced'

Jesse Eisenberg hates appearing in live theatre due to his debilitating stage fright - but fears if he does not appear in his own plays they will never be produced.

The Social Network star has penned four published plays in addition to appearing in a host of major movies, including three of his own works he has starred in produced in New York's theatres - Asuncion, The Revisionist, and The Spoils.

If it were up to him, he would not appear in his own work, due to his nerves, but the Zombieland star insists theatres won't put his work on without his star power.

"Nothing causes me more stress than doing a live performance," the actor tells The Times. "I really only act in theatre because I write my plays and I have to get them produced." Because they need his star power to make them commercially viable? "Yeah, or it's so specific to me that I have to do it."

However, he does admit that if a play is successful, he relaxes and loses himself in the drama.

"The irony of it is, once you're on stage and the show is going well, there's nothing that's more relaxing. Because you're distracted from your own mind in a beautiful way," the 36-year-old adds. "I always think of the example of a cell phone. When you're on stage, you never once think of checking your phone. But in real life it's become this kind of nervous tic for an entire generation."

The star doesn't just battle nerves on stage - as he has obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) that makes him stick to particular superstitions.

"I touch the tips of my fingers in a weird way; I don't step on cracks; if I'm going on to a new surface - be it carpet to concrete, or concrete to wood, or wood to concrete, any new surface - I have to make sure all parts of my feet touch the ground equally before I touch that new thing."