Eisenberg played the controversial tech exec in “The Social Network,” but will be replaced by Jeremy Strong in the upcoming “The Social Reckoning.”

Jesse Eisenberg explains why he didn’t want to reprise his role as Mark Zuckerberg: ‘I don’t really like the comparison’

Eisenberg played the controversial tech exec in “The Social Network,” but will be replaced by Jeremy Strong in the upcoming “The Social Reckoning.”

By Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2025. Her work has previously appeared on Entertainment Tonight and Popsugar.

EW's editorial guidelines

July 6, 2026 12:05 p.m. ET

Leave a Comment

Jesse Eisenberg; Mark Zuckerberg. Credit:

Roy Rochlin/Getty; TheStewartofNY/WireImage

- Jesse Eisenberg says he turned down the chance to reprise the role of Mark Zuckerberg in Aaron Sorkin’s* Social Network *follow-up because he believes the Facebook creator is “not a person who cares about people.”

- Eisenberg played the controversial tech exec in the Oscar-winning 2010 biopic, but will be replaced by Jeremy Strong in the upcoming *The Social Reckoning*.

- *The Social Reckoning *premieres in theaters on Oct. 9.

Jesse Eisenberg may have gotten an Oscar nomination for his critically acclaimed performance as Facebook founder–turned–arch tech villain Mark Zuckerberg in 2010’s *The Social Network*, but he’s not looking for a two-peat.

The actor opened up about his decision not to reprise the role of Zuckerberg in the upcoming follow-up film, *The Social Reckoning**,* during a discussion at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival Saturday, where he was the recipient of this year’s President’s Award. Eisenberg explained that he doesn’t want to reprise the role as he no longer wants “to be associated” with Zuckerberg, per *Variety*.

“At the time, the movie seemed like such a strange thing to me because no one really knew who he was,” he said of starring in the upcoming sequel, written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, who wrote the predecessor. “He was interviewed on *60 Minutes*, which is our big news show, but otherwise he wasn’t in the public a lot. I thought of it like an interesting character. And then he’s become famous and now I don’t want to do the movie [...] I don’t want to be associated with him anymore because I don’t really like the comparison.”

Jesse Eisenberg in ‘The Social Network’.

Merrick Morton/Columbia/Sony

Part of Eisenberg’s decision was also his disdain for the way social media has evolved. The *When You Finish Saving the World* director proclaimed that, as an actor, he talks about himself “too much,” and “it’s not healthy.”

“No human being has ever talked about themselves as much as I talk about myself. So I’m not on any [social media],” he told his audience. “All that stuff scares me so much, you know, Facebook and social media, Twitter, whatever, because I already feel humiliated to be in public talking about myself. It’s disgusting. All that stuff terrifies me.”

Naturally, that feeling was compounded with the concept of reprising his role as Zuckerberg, who has been the subject of multiple lawsuits regarding the creation and ownership of one of the most-visited social media platforms in the world, as well as issues such as user privacy.

“Being in the movie about it, too, made it even more scary because I see that the person who created this website is not a person who cares about people,” Eisenberg added. “I’m like: well, if this guy is the creator of this world, I don’t want to live in that world.”

Jesse Eisenberg opens up about turning down Aaron Sorkin's offer to return for 'Social Network' sequel

Aaron Sorkin reveals why Jesse Eisenberg declined to return as Mark Zuckerberg for 'The Social Reckoning'

In the absence of Eisbenberg, Jeremy Strong has stepped up to portray the Facebook founder and CEO.

Sorkin previously told *Vanity Fair** *that he bumped into both Eisenberg and Strong at the 2025 *Vanity Fair* Oscar Party when* The Social Reckoning *script was complete. He told Eisenberg he wanted him to read the draft. Moments later, Sorkin encountered Strong and mentioned the script. Strong told him that if Eisenberg wasn’t interested in reprising the role, he would be keen in taking over.

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our ******EW Dispatch newsletter******.***

*The Social Reckoning* is described as “a companion piece” to *The Social Network,* “based on the events that gave rise to the *Wall Street Journal*’s shocking exposé The Facebook Files,” published in 2021.

“The film is inspired by the true story of how Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison), a young Facebook engineer, enlists the help of Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White), a *Wall Street Journal* reporter, to go on a dangerous journey that ends up blowing the whistle on the social network’s most guarded secrets,” the official synopsis reads.

Also starring in the film are Wunmi Mosaku, Betty Gilpin, Billy Magnussen, and Bill Burr.

Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg in ‘The Social Reckoning’.

David Fincher, who directed *The Social Network*, didn’t direct the upcoming sequel because he was busy working on the *Once Upon a Time in Hollywood* spinoff — *The Adventures of Cliff Booth*. Sorkin, the screenwriter who won his first Oscar for his work on 2010’s* **The Social Network**, *said Fincher has been supportive of him taking over to helm the sequel, and he was the first person to read *Reckoning*’s script.

“He was just very enthusiastic and eager to help any way he could,” Sorkin said.

Strong had high praise for Sorkin’s screenplay, calling it “one of the great scripts I’ve ever read,” but distanced himself from Eisenberg’s portrayal, saying it “has nothing to do with what I’m going to do.”

*The Social Reckoning *opens in theaters on Oct. 9.

- Movie Reviews & Recommendations

- Movie Industry

- Film Production

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Film”