Fifteen years after portraying Mark Zuckerberg in “The Social Network,” actor Jesse Eisenberg is sharing some candid thoughts on the Meta CEO’s latest actions.
Appearing on NPR’s “Fresh Air” program Tuesday, Eisenberg said he felt saddened by Zuckerberg’s decision to scrap the fact-checking system on Meta’s platforms, which include Facebook and Instagram.
“As an actor, your job is to really understand your character, even if the character is a villain in a movie. Your job is to defend your character, right?” he explained. “And so I spent a lot of time thinking about this guy and thinking about how he felt outcast in the world and created this thing in order to connect with other people because he felt uncomfortable connecting with other people through more traditional social norms.”
Though Eisenberg viewed Zuckerberg’s ambition as “wonderful and totally defensible” while filming “The Social Network,” he suggested the Meta CEO’s drive now “supersedes [his] caution in a way that can be pretty dangerous.”
“And now that the platform is so powerful and owns all these other things, I guess I feel a little bit sad. Why is this the path you’re taking?” he said, before hinting he would no longer “justify and defend [Zuckerberg’s] behavior.”
Released in 2010, “The Social Network” is an adaptation of Ben Mezrich’s book “The Accidental Billionaires,” and follows Zuckerberg’s rise from Harvard University student to becoming the world’s youngest self-made billionaire after launching Facebook. The movie, which also stars Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake, was a critical and commercial smash, winning three Oscars.
Though Zuckerberg wasn’t involved in the making of “The Social Network” and would later criticize the film, he appeared to be on friendly terms with Eisenberg for some time. In 2011, he made a brief cameo on an episode of “Saturday Night Live” hosted by the actor.
In recent weeks, Zuckerberg announced plans to dump fact-checking on Meta and abandon initiatives aimed at boosting diversity within his companies in what is widely perceived as an overall attempt at currying favor with President Donald Trump. Appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast earlier this month, he lamented the decline of “masculine energy” in corporations.
Those efforts seem to have paid off, as Zuckerberg had a prime seat at Trump’s inauguration alongside fellow tech billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk on Monday. Meta also donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund and hosted a party after the president was sworn in.
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Eisenberg, meanwhile, is currently promoting “A Real Pain,” which on Thursday received two Academy Award nominations. The film, which he also wrote and directed, follows Jewish American cousins David (Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) as they travel to Poland as part of a Holocaust-themed tour to honor their late grandmother.
Listen to Jesse Eisenberg’s “Fresh Air” interview here. His comments on Mark Zuckerberg can be found around the 43:05 mark.