Jeremy Strong Emailed Mark Zuckerberg Before Playing Him. Zuckerberg Replied

Jeremy Strong was preparing to play Mark Zuckerberg. So, he did something that may not have thrilled the studio behind the movie. He emailed Mark Zuckerberg.

“I’m probably going to give Sony an aneurysm,” Strong joked while revealing that he personally contacted the Meta CEO before filming The Social Reckoning, Aaron Sorkin’s upcoming companion piece to The Social Network.

His message was simple: I’m taking this seriously. Strong said he wanted Zuckerberg to know that he understood the responsibility of portraying a living, deeply controversial figure and intended to approach the role with respect and a commitment to accuracy.

And Zuckerberg? He replied. Strong isn’t revealing what he said. The exchange offers a glimpse into the intense preparation of an actor famous for disappearing into his characters, this time to portray one of the most scrutinised figures in modern technology. “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 said.

For the 47-year-old actor, playing Zuckerberg isn't about delivering a verdict. It is about getting inside his argument. “My job is to understand and defend his point of view and fight his fight,” Strong said, describing the role as carrying an “enormous sense of weight and responsibility”.

Zuckerberg, After The Social Network

The Social Reckoning returns to territory Sorkin famously explored in the Oscar-winning 2010 film The Social Network, in which Jesse Eisenberg played a younger Zuckerberg during Facebook’s rise.

This time, the story moves into the late 2010s and 2020. Jeremy Allen White plays then-Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz, while Mikey Madison portrays Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen. The film is expected to draw heavily on the newspaper’s 2021 investigation known as The Facebook Files.

Those reports examined Facebook’s internal practices, including allegations involving special treatment for some high-profile users, internal research into Instagram’s effects on teenagers and algorithmic changes that critics said encouraged anger and divisive content.

Zuckerberg pushed back strongly at the time, rejecting claims that Facebook would deliberately promote anger-inducing content for profit. That makes Strong’s task particularly combustible: he is portraying a man about whom millions of people already have an opinion.

And he doesn’t want to give audiences an easy caricature. Interestingly, Strong said that even if Zuckerberg had invited him to spend time at Meta, he probably would have declined. His preparation required contact, apparently, but also distance.

Oscar or Razzie? Strong’s transformation has already divided the internet. After the film’s trailer arrived in June, one viral post suggested the performance could end with either an Oscar or a Razzie. Strong loved that. He called the reaction “the greatest endorsement” of what he was trying to do. “I’ll be sad if I win a Razzie, but that’s the place you want to be,” he said. “That’s the wager you have to make.”

In other words, safe was never the plan. And Strong appears to have taken his famously immersive approach particularly far. He reportedly remained in character as Zuckerberg throughout production. His friend Bradley Cooper discovered just how far. “I’ve talked to Mark Zuckerberg many times,” Cooper joked. “I had a whole friendship with Mark Zuckerberg, and Mark Zuckerberg has no idea.”

Audiences will get to meet Strong’s Zuckerberg when The Social Reckoning arrives in theatres on October 9. The real Zuckerberg already has, at least by email.

(With inputs from ANI)