Jesse Eisenberg to Donate a Kidney: Now You See Me 3 Star Makes a Life-Saving Choice
While promoting the upcoming Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, Jesse Eisenberg revealed he plans to donate one of his kidneys to a stranger — a bold, deeply personal choice he says is both exciting and meaningful.
Here’s a sentence I didn’t expect to write today: Jesse Eisenberg is giving one of his kidneys to a stranger. He talked about it while doing press for his next movie, and the whole thing is surprisingly straightforward, oddly inspiring, and yes, slightly wild.
The reveal
On the TODAY show, the 42-year-old 'Now You See Me: Now You Don’t' star said he’s set to donate a kidney in December — about six weeks from his interview — and he sounded genuinely happy about it, not just dutiful.
"I’m actually donating my kidney in six weeks. I really am."
What an altruistic kidney donation actually means
Eisenberg isn’t donating to a friend or family member. He’s doing what’s called an altruistic, or non-directed, donation — essentially giving to someone he doesn’t know who needs a transplant. Hospitals like RWJ Barnabas Health use that term to describe donations to patients with advanced kidney disease who don’t have a compatible person in their circle.
- He says a long-running habit of donating blood put him on this path, and he’s legitimately excited to do it.
- This kind of donation can kick off a transplant chain: say a patient in Kansas City needs a kidney, their kid wants to donate but isn’t a match — if Eisenberg is a match, his kidney goes to the patient, and the kid’s donation goes into a pool to help another patient. That chain only works if someone like Eisenberg starts it.
- He first considered donating a decade ago, then finally moved forward after a recent talk with a doctor friend who pointed him to NYU Langone Health.
- He’s done the medical testing and is scheduled for surgery in mid-December.
- He also mentioned the National Kidney Registry’s family voucher program, which basically gives his loved ones priority access if they ever need a transplant down the line.
His read on the risk
He framed the procedure as something both needed and, in his view, essentially risk-free — and he seemed more energized than anxious about it.
And yes, the movie
All of this came up while he was promoting 'Now You See Me: Now You Don’t,' which is set to hit theaters on November 14, 2025.