Jeremy Strong wrote an email to Mark Zuckerberg after he was cast to play the Facebook CEO in Aaron Sorkin's new film "The Social Reckoning." The Facebook CEO wrote back, but Strong has not revealed what he said.
According to Variety, Strong discussed the role in detail for the latest cover of GQ magazine, the first issue published under new global editorial director Adam Baidawi. It marks the first time Strong has spoken publicly about taking on the part.
Jesse Eisenberg originated the role of Zuckerberg in Sorkin's "The Social Network" and received an Oscar nomination for it. Sorkin went back to Eisenberg first for the follow-up, but Eisenberg declined because he no longer "wants to be associated" with the Facebook co-founder. Strong had separately crossed paths with Sorkin at an Oscars season party and told him to call if Eisenberg did not return.
"It's the kind of role that fascinates me," Strong told GQ. "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… Listen, 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."
Strong described the email he sent to Zuckerberg in measured terms. "I wrote to him — I'm probably going to give Sony an aneurysm — I sent him an email," Strong said. "Just to say that I take this responsibility very seriously, and the veracity of it seriously, and I'm approaching it with respect."
His preparation went well beyond a single email. Per GQ, Strong absorbed podcasts, magazine interviews, tech-summit talks, and ideas-festival conversations. He watched footage of Zuckerberg testifying before Congress, in his own words, "until my eyes fell out of my head." He also created a Facebook account specifically to read through Zuckerberg's posts from the beginning, tracking what he described as Zuckerberg's evolution into a "wartime CEO."
Strong also spoke exclusively in Zuckerberg's voice for the entire duration of production. His friend and fellow actor Bradley Cooper confirmed the commitment to GQ.
Sony released the first trailer for "The Social Reckoning" in June to a divided response online. When told that some viewers were predicting an Oscar nomination while others predicted a Razzie, Strong did not back down. "I thought that was the greatest endorsement," he said. "Because to me, it was like — listen, I'll be sad if I win a Razzie, but that's the place you want to be. That's the wager you have to make. To me, that means, Okay, I put it on the line enough."
