‘Social Network’ Star Spills Why He No Longer Wants to Play Zuckerberg

Lauren Justice / REUTERSActor Jesse Eisenberg has revealed why he passed on playing Mark Zuckerberg in the upcoming sequel to The Social Network, The Social Reckoning. Eisenberg, 42, was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his role playing the tech giant in the 2010 film, directed by Aaron Sorkin. The movie portrays the foundation of Facebook, and grossed over 220 million. However, Eisenberg will not reprise the role of Zuckerberg for the sequel. Eisenberg told Variety he and Sorkin “talked about doing the movie” for several days, and felt “if you’re not going to do something with him, it feels almost like you’re letting down America.” Speaking at the premiere of his new animated film Minions and Monsters, the actor said he told Sorkin he was “moving in different directions in my life... 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.” Sorkin told Vanity Fair in June that he had spent three days trying to convince Eisenberg to reprise his role as Zuckerberg. “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.” Succession star Jeremy Strong will play Zuckerberg in The Social Reckoning, which is based on the leaks from Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen. It is released in October. Read it at VarietyRead more at The Daily Beast.