Jesse Eisenberg is giving away a kidney — and he says the decision was basically effortless.
The 42-year-old actor revealed the news while chatting about his summer blood-drive appearance on the Today show.
He joked: “I just have so much blood in me, and I feel like I should spill it. I really like doing it, and I don’t know why.”
Then he casually dropped the big reveal.
“I’m actually donating my kidney in six weeks. I really am,” Eisenberg said.
Host Craig Melvin reacted instantly. “That’s amazing,” he told the actor.
Eisenberg explained he caught what he called “the blood donation bug. I got, like, bitten by the blood donation bug. I love it.”
Melvin pointed out the obvious jump. “That’s a big jump up,” he told him.
Eisenberg agreed. “I’m doing an altruistic donation [in] mid-December,” he said.
Eisenberg Calls the Kidney Donation “Risk-Free” and “So Needed”
An altruistic kidney donation means the donor gives to a stranger.
Doctors match organs by medical compatibility rather than personal connection.
Eisenberg says the choice was simple.
He told TODAY.com: “It’s essentially risk-free and so needed.”
He added: “I think people will realize that it’s a no-brainer, if you have the time and the inclination.”
The actor is also a dad to eight-year-old Banner.
He explained that the National Kidney Foundation’s voucher program protects his family.
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.”
Medical experts say most donors recover fairly quickly.
The Mayo Clinic notes that donors usually return to normal life in two to four weeks.
Around 5,000 Americans donate a kidney each year.
Eisenberg now joins that small — but life-saving — group.
