donates

“Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” star Jesse Eisenberg may soon one-up the film franchise’s Robin Hood-esque Four Horsemen in the giving-back department.

This December, the Academy Award nominee and longtime blood donor will give one of his kidneys to a complete stranger, he said Thursday on the “Today” show. He slipped the news into a conversation with host Craig Melvin about a recent show-sponsored blood drive.

As Melvin and his co-hosts reacted in disbelief, Eisenberg said, “I really am [donating].”

“I don’t know why. I got bitten by the blood donation bug,” he said, adding that he was “so excited” to make the nondirected (a.k.a. “altruistic”) donation, wherein a living donor is not related to or known by the recipient.

According to the National Kidney Registry, approximately 90,000 people in the U.S. are currently in need of a kidney transplant, while roughly 6,000 people donate kidneys each year. Less than 5% of those already slim donations are nondirected.

Eisenberg said he suspected that if people knew how safe the process was, those numbers would go up.

“It’s essentially risk-free and so needed,” Eisenberg said in a separate interview with Today.com. “I think people will realize that it’s a no-brainer, if you have the time and the inclination.”

“The Social Network” alum added that prospective donors need not worry about forking over a kidney and later facing a situation wherein a family member urgently needs one.

“The way it works now is you can put a list of whoever you would like to be the first [relative] to be at the top of the list,” he said, referring to the National Kidney Registry’s family voucher program. The program launched in 2019, preceded by an earlier “standard” iteration that required the voucher donor to name a voucher holder who had some form of kidney impairment. (The standard voucher option is still available to donors as well.)

“Not only does this remove an important disincentive to living kidney donation, but it is the right thing to do for the generous people who are donating a kidney to a stranger. Donors can now donate a kidney and still provide security for their loved ones should they need a kidney transplant in the future,” Dr. Jeff Veale, who helped pioneer the voucher system, said in a statement at the time of the program update.

Recovery is also a non-issue for most kidney donors, who on average return to daily activities within a few weeks of the surgery, per the Mayo Clinic.

“Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” hits theaters Nov. 14, nearly a decade after the previous installment in the franchise premiered. Eisenberg stars alongside returning cast members Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco and newcomers Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt and Rosamund Pike.

HOLLYWOOD star Jesse Eisenberg has revealed he’s donating his kidney to a stranger.

The Oscar nominated actor, 42, is set to have the operation in just six weeks in a bid to save a person with advanced kidney disease.

He appeared on the TODAY show on Thursday morning and shared: “I’m actually donating my kidney in six weeks. I really am.“

The Social Network actor was then asked what made him want to donate his organ in such a selfless act.

He replied: “I don’t know why. I got bitten by the blood donation bug. I’m doing an altruistic donation (in) mid-December. I’m so excited to do it.”

An altruistic or non-directed kidney donor is a person who wishes to donate a kidney to a person with advanced kidney disease, who he or she does not know.

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Many non-directed donors do not know anyone personally who is in need of a kidney transplant.

Jesse went on to explain why other people should consider becoming organ donors, saying: “It’s essentially risk-free and so needed.

“I think people will realize that it’s a no-brainer, if you have the time and the inclination.”

The Zombieland actor spoke about the benefits of being an altruistic donor.

He explained: “Let’s say person X needs a kidney in Kansas City, (and) their child or whoever was going to donate to them is, for whatever set of reasons, not a match, but somehow I am.

“That person can still get my kidney and hopefully that child of that person still donates their kidney, right? But it goes to a bank where that person can find a match recipient, but it only works if there is basically an altruistic donor.”

Jesse said he first had the idea about donating his kidney nearly a decade ago.

He reached out to an organization at the time but never heard back.

But now Jesse is set to go ahead with the procedure in December.

“I was in the hospital the next day and went through a battery of tests, and I’m now scheduled in mid-December,” he shared.

Jesse also discussed the National Kidney Foundation’s family voucher program, where allows a living donor to donate a kidney to a stranger now and receive vouchers for up to five healthy family members to use in the future, if one of them needs a transplant.

He said: “The way it works now is you can put a list of whoever you would like to be the first to be at the top of the list.

“So it’s risk-free for my family, as well.”

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Jesse is best known for films such as The Social Network, Zombieland, and Now You See Me.

He is also recognized for his roles in Adventureland, The Squid and the Whale, and the DC Extended Universe as Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League.