Jesse Eisenberg and Julianne Moore brought their latest collaboration, The Debut, to the closing night of this year’s BFI London Film Festival, where the musical comedy drew laughter and a burst of enthusiastic applause from the audience.

Written and directed by Eisenberg, the film stars Moore as Mona, a neglected housewife who is cast in a community theater production. Paul Giamatti plays Jerry, the production’s director.

Eisenberg and Moore introduced the film onstage in London. Giamatti was unable to attend because he had COVID, according to Eisenberg.

The closing-night screening followed several months on the festival circuit for The Debut, which had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival. The movie is scheduled to open in U.S. theaters on Dec. 11.

A collaboration built on mutual admiration

For Eisenberg, Moore’s involvement was not simply a major piece of casting. During a Screen Talk session earlier in the day, he said the film would not have been made without her.

On the red carpet, Eisenberg told The Hollywood Reporter that The Debut is the project he loves more than anything else he has made.

“It has everything that I love in a project,” he said. “It has music, and it has absurdism, and it has heart, and it has depressed people, but in funny situations. It’s my favorite thing in the world.”

Moore was equally effusive about reuniting with Eisenberg. She previously appeared in his 2022 directorial debut, When You Finish Saving the World, and said their experience on that film left her ready to consider anything he sent her.

“I love him so much, and we had such an extraordinary time on our first film together,” Moore said, describing Eisenberg as a “special” writer and an “extraordinary director.”

She also praised his worldview, humor and empathy, while calling the screenplay for The Debut one of the best she had ever read.

“I can’t believe what a gift this is,” Moore recalled thinking when the script reached her. “I just feel really, really fortunate to have had this opportunity.”

Eisenberg reflects on festivals and awards

While Eisenberg’s enthusiasm for the finished movie was clear, he acknowledged that the publicity cycle surrounding a festival release can sometimes distract him from the work itself.

He said that while promoting a film, he can become focused on packaging it as a product. Catching the final minutes before attending a post-screening Q&A helps reconnect him with the movie beyond the competitive side of the business.

That competition was on his mind in London, where he jokingly referred to Martin McDonagh, the filmmaker behind festival title Wild Horse Nine. Eisenberg made clear that he loves McDonagh, even as he described his own discomfort with the promotional machinery surrounding films.

He also discussed the stress he has felt around awards campaigns. Recalling an earlier Oscar nomination, Eisenberg said he initially did not want to attend because he considered awards “stupid.” His father challenged that reaction by pointing out how fortunate he was to have a seat in the room at all.

“So now I don’t worry about anything anymore,” Eisenberg said. “Now I just feel lucky.”

ShowBiz Take

The Debut matters as more than a second film pairing for Eisenberg and Moore. Their comments show that the project rests on a level of creative trust established during When You Finish Saving the World, with each crediting the other as central to the experience.

The film also brings together the elements Eisenberg says he values most: music, absurdity, emotional weight and humor. The London audience’s warm reception — including frequent laughter and one notably loud round of applause — gave the closing-night presentation an immediate boost ahead of its U.S. theatrical release.

The screening capped a BFI London Film Festival that opened with the European premiere of Andrew Scott’s Elsinore. Other prominent gala titles included Behemoth!, Ink, Wild Horse Nine, Artificial, Paper Tiger, Possible Love, Bunker and La Bola Negra.

What Happens Next?

After its festival run, The Debut is set to arrive in U.S. theaters on Dec. 11.

Eisenberg is also working on a television project. He said he wrote the show for A24 and former Disney and Fox executive Peter Rice. The story follows an 18-year-old girl in the fall of 2002 and explores what Eisenberg described as the beginning of today’s culture wars, although he said the project is not overly political — before joking that viewers could decide whether it is pretentious.