Jeremy Strong Plays Zuckerberg in Sorkin's Social Reckoning
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- Jeremy Strong takes over as Mark Zuckerberg in Aaron Sorkin's follow-up to 'The Social Network,' 'The Social Reckoning,' after Jesse Eisenberg — who scored an Oscar nomination playing Zuckerberg in the original — declined to reprise because he no longer 'wants to be associated' with the Facebook co-founder.
- Zuckerberg personally responded to an email Strong sent after being cast, in which Strong said he approaches the role with respect and takes the responsibility 'very seriously'; Strong declined to share what Zuckerberg wrote back.
- Strong immersed himself in research — watching Zuckerberg's Congressional testimony 'until my eyes fell out of my head' and signing up for a Facebook account to read Zuckerberg's posts chronologically, tracking what GQ describes as his evolution into a 'wartime CEO' between the two films.
- Bradley Cooper told GQ that Strong's Method approach meant he'd unknowingly had 'a whole friendship with Mark Zuckerberg' — the actor spoke only as the Facebook CEO throughout production, including on personal calls.
- Strong was still in Method mode for an entirely different role during the GQ interview, speaking in a Polish accent for his part as a globe-trotting Nazi hunter in Ira Levin's 'The Boys from Brazil,' a seven-month shoot that bled into unsignaled phone calls with friends and Sorkin himself.
- 'The Social Reckoning' opens in theaters Oct. 9; its June trailer split social media between Oscar and Razzie predictions, a divide Strong called 'the greatest endorsement' because it meant 'I put it on the line enough.'
Why it matters: Eisenberg's Oscar-nominated turn cemented the public image of Zuckerberg; his refusal to reprise — no longer wanting to be associated with the Facebook co-founder — proves the role has grown politically toxic. Strong's refusal to condemn a 'reviled person' ahead of the Oct. 9 release makes Sorkin's film a high-stakes test of how Hollywood handles Zuckerberg on his own terms.
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