Actor Jesse Eisenberg is giving his portion of winnings from the celebrity game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire to Middle Way House, a Bloomington nonprofit helping survivors of domestic and sexual violence.

He split the $500,000 prize halfway with a fellow actor.

“I said I'll only do it if I could do it with Paul Giamatti because he's a genius and he just retains information and he's smart,” Eisenberg said. “I like to think he's smart not just for being an actor, that he's smart for the real world.”

Middle Way House provides services to survivors of domestic and sexual violence, including housing, advocacy and a 24-hour crisis line.

Listen: Middle Way House on Noon Edition

The actors’ collective trivia acumen netted much needed cash for the 56-year-old institution, which recently lost significant federal funding.

A former Bloomington resident and current Middle Way House volunteer, Eisenberg has been involved with the organization for over a decade.

“My mother-in-law Toby Strout ran Middle Way House for about 35 years, and my wife grew up volunteering there and later as an adult working,” he said. “So Middle Way House has been in my life for a really long time.”

Eisenberg stepped up his involvement during the COVID-19 pandemic after Middle Way House lost many of its volunteers. His 2022 directorial debut, When You Finish Saving the World, is partly set at a fictional domestic violence shelter in Indiana.

“I just kind of like fell in love with the place,” Eisenberg said. “I fell in love with getting to work there and seeing not only the amazing work that they do, but how efficiently they do it.”

He spent Thursday volunteering at the shelter. Eisenberg encouraged other Bloomington residents to get involved as well.

“I'm a weak person with an aged body, but I was mopping all day, which is easy. Somebody who is younger probably could do a better job, and somebody who's older could probably do a better job as well,” he said. “But there's so many ways to be helpful with a place like Middle Way.”