Jesse Eisenberg opened up to Variety about what it was like turning down the opportunity to return as Facebook mastermind Mark Zuckerberg in Aaron Sorkin’s “The Social Network” sequel, “The Social Reckoning.”
“It’s an honor to speak to Aaron in any capacity, because he’s so articulate and charming and so bright,” Eisenberg told Variety at Sunday’s Los Angeles premiere of “Minions & Monsters.” “We talked about doing the movie for several days. The way Aaron speaks, he speaks so wonderfully, as he writes that, in a way, if you’re not going to do something with him, it feels almost like you’re letting down America.”
He added, “I just told him I’m moving in different directions in my life, and you know, what he said sums it up nicely. I don’t want to be associated with that character, but all of my reasons for not wanting to do the movie have nothing to do with how wonderful the movie is, and will be, and I’m sure is already.”
Earlier in June, Sorkin told Vanity Fair that he spent three days trying to convince Eisenberg to return as Zuckerberg, but ultimately, he no longer wanted to be “conflated” with the tech mogul.
“I felt like it belonged to him, and he was certainly battle-tested,” Sorkin said. “He simply did not want to be conflated with Mark Zuckerberg anymore, that he has his problems with the guy. He doesn’t like kids coming up to him in airports with business cards that say ‘I’m CEO, bitch’ for him to sign.”
“The Social Reckoning,” which sees Jeremy Strong step into the role of Zuckerberg, follows Facebook engineer Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison) and Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White), whose reporting scrutinized the company’s internal workings. A 2021 investigative series exposed Facebook’s damaging effects on teens and its role in circulating misinformation, including content linked to political violence.
