Jesse Eisenberg has always been a big blood donor, but now he is taking his giving to another level by donating one of his kidneys to a stranger.
The “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” star shared live on TODAY on Oct. 30 that he is making the selfless decision.
“I’m actually donating my kidney in six weeks,” he said. “I really am.”
The Oscar-nominated actor, 42, was asked what prompted his decision.
“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 donation is when a person donates a kidney to a person with advanced kidney disease whom he or she does not know, according to RWJ Barnabas Health. The individuals are known as non-directed kidney donors because it’s not a kidney for a specific family member, friend or someone they know personally who needs a kidney.
“It’s essentially risk-free and so needed,” Eisenberg told TODAY.com in a separate interview. “I think people will realize that it’s a no-brainer, if you have the time and the inclination.”
“The Social Network” star also explained how the process works.
“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,” he said. “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.”
He tells TODAY.com he first got the idea about 10 years ago and contacted an unnamed organization but never received a response. He then was with a doctor friend recently and expressed his desire to donate, and she pointed him to NYU Langone Health in New York City as an option.
“I was in the hospital the next day and went through a battery of tests, and I’m now scheduled in mid-December,” he said.
There is currently an organ donor shortage in the U.S., with about 90,000 people on the transplant list waiting for a kidney as of September 2024, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration.
Eisenberg also clarified any fears people may have of being an altruistic kidney donor and then having a situation arise where someone in their family needs a kidney.
“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,” he said, referring to the National Kidney Foundation’s family voucher program.
Eisenberg said he put his family members on his list so they’ll be prioritized for a living kidney donation should they need one.
“So it’s risk-free for my family, as well,” he explained.
Eisenberg also shared his love for blood donation after Craig Melvin revealed that Eisenberg contributed to a TODAY blood drive in July.
“I just have so much blood in me, and I feel like I should spill it,” he joked. “I really like doing it, and I don’t know why.”
Eisenberg stopped by TODAY to discuss the upcoming release of his new movie, “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t,” which comes out on Nov. 14, 2025.
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