Jesse Eisenberg Hasn't Seen The Social Reckoning

Jesse Eisenberg has not seen The Social Reckoning. He told Deadline in an interview published on 13 October that he had yet to watch the follow-up to 2010's The Social Network, in which he originally starred as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

He passed on playing Zuckerberg again. Jeremy Strong takes the role in the new film, which Sony Pictures Entertainment released on 9 October. Eisenberg said he loves the script and loves writer Aaron Sorkin. He said no anyway.

His reason was personal and practical. He did not want to be linked to Zuckerberg again or to spend a year talking about him on a press tour, he told Deadline. He added that he is not on the platform as a user, is not interested in that kind of technology in his own life, and did not want to act as its representative.

Sorkin had expected a yes. He told Entertainment Weekly that he assumed Eisenberg would return, and said he was a couple of pages from finishing the script when he ran into the actor and promised to send him something in a couple of weeks. Sorkin later told Vanity Fair in June that he spent a three-day weekend trying to persuade him, according to Deadline. He also told Entertainment Weekly that money does not motivate Eisenberg.

He has talked about the decision before. He discussed turning it down in an interview with Variety in June and again at the San Sebastian Film Festival in September. Sorkin has said Eisenberg was tired in part of being “conflated” with Zuckerberg.

For fans, this means a fresh pairing at the centre of the story. Mikey Madison stars alongside Strong as whistleblower Frances Haugen, the former employee whose disclosures prompted scrutiny of the company. Jeremy Allen White plays Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz, who covered her documents. Sorkin began work on the sequel in April 2024, examining what he described as Facebook’s dark side and the effect of its polarising algorithm on society.

Eisenberg is focused on his own project instead. He wrote, directed and stars in The Debut, which centres on a shy family woman played by Julianne Moore who finds her voice through community theatre, with Paul Giamatti as the theatre’s director. He said he wrote the parts specifically for Moore and Giamatti, his favourite actress and actor, and wrote with Moore in mind. The film premiered at Telluride on 9 September and is set for theatrical release by A24 on 11 December.