Jesse Eisenberg is leaving his turn as Mark Zuckerberg in the past.
Eisenberg, who played the Facebook CEO in the David Fincher-directed film The Social Network, surprised fans when it was reported in June that a sequel was in the works, but Eisenberg wasn’t coming back to play its lead.
During a Thursday appearance on the Today show, the Now You See Me: Now You Don’t star was asked why he wouldn’t return for the second film, The Social Reckoning. “Listen, for reasons that have nothing to do with how amazing that movie will be, really, truthfully,” Eisenberg said. “But when you play a character, you feel, at some point, you’ve grown into something else.”
When asked if he’s outgrown the character, the actor responded, “Yeah, something. But it’s a really wonderful movie. I’m friends with Aaron Sorkin who wrote and is directing this movie, and all of the reasons that I am not in it are completely unrelated to how brilliant it will be.”
The 2010 film scored eight Oscar nominations and won three, including adapted screenplay for Sorkin. The film grossed $226 million globally. Its cast included Eisenberg’s Zuckerberg, Andrew Garfield’s Eduardo Saverin, Justin Timberlake’s Sean Parker and Armie Hammer as the Winklevoss twins.
In the upcoming sequel — which has Aaron Sorkin, writer of the first film, directing and writing for Sony — Jeremy Strong will play Zuckerberg. “It’s one of the great scripts I’ve ever read. It speaks to our time, it touches the third rail of everything happening in our world,” Strong told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this month. “It’s a great character — fascinating, complex — and I’m approaching it with great care and empathy and objectivity.”
The Succession actor also noted that he hasn’t spoken to Eisenberg about taking over his role. “I think that has nothing to do with what I’m going to do,” Strong told THR.
In addition to Strong, Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White and Bill Burr are among its cast. The film takes place 17 years after the original ended. It follows a young Facebook engineer, Frances Haugen (Madison), and Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz (White), who work together to spotlight the secrets of the social network.
The Social Reckoning will release in theaters over Columbus Day weekend next year.
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