Jeremy Strong is speaking out on portraying Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in Aaron Sorkin‘s forthcoming film, The Social Reckoning.
In a new GQ cover story, Strong revealed that he reached out to Zuckerberg after he landed the role. Sorkin’s follow-up to the 2010 Oscar-winning The Social Network, in which Jesse Eisenberg played Zuckerberg, sees Strong take over the part. Strong recalled telling Sorkin, “If Jesse Eisenberg doesn’t do it, call me.”
“It’s the kind of role that fascinates me,” Strong said of succeeding the part. “It’s like Sebastian [Stan] playing Trump. You are wearing the cape. It’s like Jeremy [Allen White] playing Bruce [Springsteen]. It’s like, the perils of that could not be greater. To commit to it, and to be free within it, is a great challenge.”
The Succession star added, “I know that he is a reviled person and not a popular person in our culture, but I do not think you should have an actor playing him who wants to set out to condemn him.”
When Strong joined the project, he contacted Zuckerberg. “I wrote to him — I’m probably going to give Sony an aneurysm — I sent him an email. Just to say that I take this responsibility very seriously, and the veracity of it seriously, and I’m approaching it with respect,” he said.
And Zuckerberg wrote him back, though Strong wouldn’t reveal what he said. He did, however, say he would be open to spending time if he were invited by the businessman.
“It feels incredibly fraught to talk about the movie, to talk about Mark and being the person who is playing Mark and representing Mark in a sense to the world and to posterity. I feel an enormous sense of weight and responsibility,” The Apprentice star added. “My job is to understand and defend his point of view and fight his fight.”
After the trailer for The Social Reckoning released in June, comments poured in about how strikingly close Strong’s voice sounded to Zuckerberg’s. His cast member Jeremy Allen White previously told The Hollywood Reporter at The Bear season five premiere in New York that the trailer was also his first time hearing Strong as the Meta CEO.
“Jeremy and I spent zero time together filming — we were totally separate,” White said. “So the first I heard was the trailer with you guys, but it’s incredible. I thought it was great, but that’s what I expect of Jeremy. He’s so talented.”
Speaking with GQ, Bradley Cooper also praised Strong’s commitment to playing Zuckerberg. “I enjoy very much talking to him when he’s in the throes of these other people. I love it. I’ve talked to Mark Zuckerberg many times — I had a whole friendship with Mark Zuckerberg, and Mark Zuckerberg has no idea,” he said.
Sony Pictures‘ The Social Reckoning is set 17 years after the events of The Social Network. White plays Wall Street Journal journalist Jeff Horwitz, who works with former Facebook employee Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison) to expose the social network’s biggest secrets. The film hits theaters Oct. 9.
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