Over the last few months, there’s been a lot of speculation about why Jesse Eisenberg isn’t returning to play Mark Zuckerberg in Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning, the upcoming sequel to The Social Network. After all, many consider his Oscar-nominated performance to be iconic. In the end, it seems that’s exactly why Eisenberg declined to return, with him telling Variety that he no longer wants to be associated with the character.
Eisenberg admitted that Sorkin pursued him for the sequel, but said he’s simply moving in a different direction in his life:
“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.”
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Sorkin previously revealed that he spent days trying to convince Eisenberg to reprise the role, which the actor confirmed:
“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.”
While he won’t be part of The Social Reckoning, Eisenberg sounds fully supportive of Succession star Jeremy Strong stepping into the role. The sequel will examine the infamous Facebook Files investigation published by The Wall Street Journal.
Ironically, Eisenberg likely won’t be able to escape questions about Zuckerberg and The Social Reckoning anytime soon. He has a highly anticipated new film, The Debut, co-starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti, which is widely expected to premiere on the fall film festival circuit around the same time Sorkin’s film arrives.
What do you think of Eisenberg’s decision? I have to admit that, while I think Eisenberg would have been a better choice to reprise the role than Strong, who strikes me as somewhat miscast, I understand not wanting to be associated with Zuckerberg for the rest of his career and wanting to move on.
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