Jesse Eisenberg has revealed he intercepted a community of Hasidic Jews to study them for a role in his new film.
The Social Network star plays Hasidic Jew Sam, who lives in a very closed and religious community, but is recruited as a drugs mule to smuggle ecstasy from Amsterdam to New York in Holy Rollers, which is based on real events.
Jesse said: "There's a sect that encourages secular Jews to become more religious. So I took advantage of that group - a group that I would normally avoid and try and walk very quickly past on the street I was now seeking out and they were really sweet to me."
He went on: "They took me to some of their very special celebrations and gave me a Bar Mitzvah that I'd never had before.
"It was a wonderful experience and they incredibly never asked me about what I was doing. I guess they just assumed I was lost, but if they asked me I would have been very open with them. I was just never asked."
The 27-year-old actor admitted he felt a bit guilty of taking advantage of them at first, but he wanted to do them justice with his portrayal.
Jesse said: "I initially did [feel guilty] because it felt strange to infiltrate that world.
"But the way I was thinking about the movie is I was portraying a character that I wanted to be as real as possible so I was trying to do them justice."
:: Holy Rollers is released in cinemas on Friday July 8.
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