On October 8, the cinema welcomes The Social: The Price of Truth by Aaron Sorkin, the sequel to The Social Network, where the creator of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg was portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg (a role that earned him Oscar and Golden Globe nominations). As we know, in the follow-up he was replaced by Jeremy Strong, due to his unwavering insistence, which even Sorkin failed to bend, as he told Entertainment Weekly. The writer tried every means to make him reconsider, almost succeeded, but…
Jesse Eisenberg was unmovable in the refusal of The Social, word of Aaron Sorkin
Aaron Sorkin, who also handles directing for The Social: The Price of Truth (and for the screenplay of The Social Network by Fincher he earned the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay), pulled out all stops. In the end, Jeremy Strong inherited the role of Mark Zuckerberg because Jesse Eisenberg no longer wanted to be associated with the character. A recasing of such magnitude was hard to swallow, as Sorkin recounts: “I was two pages away from finishing the script, I ran into Jesse at a party and told him: in a couple of weeks I’ll send you something. He smiled and nodded, I sent it to him and… I had never imagined that he wouldn’t want to do it. […] It was the only time in my life when I prepared an outline. I don’t do that for films, but I did it for my conversation with Jesse. There were reasons for him to do it. Like ‘We already know you’ll be fantastic because you already have been,’ then ‘Here are the big moments you’ll play in the film,’ I laid the list out in front of him. […] I knew the studio was offering him the part, but money does not motivate Jesse. It drives you crazy! In fact, money for him is a disincentive. It’s admirable. He is very concerned that his children might grow up with too much money.” />
For the record, Eisenberg apparently later said that, even after his refusal, that talk including the “list” brought him very, very close to changing his mind. For Sorkin, it’s a bittersweet half-victory. Jeremy Strong metaphorically thanks him.
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