The Social Network star Jesse Eisenberg has revealed Daniel Radcliffe turned down the lead role in his play The Spoils, forcing the actor to play the part himself.

Jesse said he offered the role to seven actors including Harry Potter star Daniel, before reluctantly taking on the part himself.

The Spoils – which has transferred to London’s Trafalgar Studios from off-Broadway in New York – centres around bully Ben, who discovers that his school crush is marrying a straight-laced banker and sets out to destroy their relationship and win her back.

Jesse Eisenberg in CannesJesse Eisenberg (Thibault Camus/AP)

The Big Bang Theory star Kunal Nayyar plays his roommate Kalyan.

Jesse, who is starring opposite Daniel in Now You See Me 2 in cinemas, told the Virgin Radio breakfast show: “It’s my third play.

“With all three plays I tried to not act in them, because I wanted to experience being the playwright, but that hasn’t happened for various reasons.

Daniel Radcliffe on the red carpet(Charles Sykes/AP)

“In this play, I offered the part to seven other guys when we were in New York last year and they were all busy, or at least they said they were busy.

“One of them was Dan Radcliffe, who was in Now You See Me 2, and Dan was doing a movie at the time, at least allegedly, so I was kind of forced into it.

“I think it’s probably for the best because once I’m doing it I kind of like it, but I just get so nervous going on stage that I feel like I want to avoid the experience of having stage fright for six months. But ultimately, doing it is very rewarding.”

The play also stars Game Of Thrones actor Alfie Allen in his West End debut.

The Spoils runs until August 13.