Next month's "The Social Network" has pretty much everything going for it. Great hype, an amazing director, an engaged cast and the fact it centers around the hottest social networking site on the planet. Telling the (not entirely factual) true story of Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, the film seems like it would need to hinge on a cut-and-dry portrayal of the real-life people it is recreating, but leading man Jesse Eisenberg said director David Fincher actually gave him a bit more freedom with the role.
"It's kind of a wonderful experience for an actor because you get to kind of experiment within the scenes in a way that, on any other movie set, would kind of seem indulgent and asking for too much," he explained.
The reason Jesse was given so much leeway with his portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg was because, as a person, Mark would often be unengaged with the people around him—something we find ironic because he created a platform for billions of people to become unengaged with their friends, by having all their interactions be over the internet.
"One of the interesting aspects of my character was his disengagement. You know, he's kind of a little aloof and emotionally really quite reserved," he said. That actually remind us a little of Jesse, as well!
He added that they would do numerous takes of the same scenes where he would act in different levels of engagement with those around him, so David Fincher would be able to pick a version that fit with the rest of the film.
"We would be often doing half of the scene 60 times one way, and 60 times kind of a little more engaged, a little more present," he said.
Are you looking forward to seeing "The Social Network"? Are you glad David Fincher gave Jesse some leeway with his interpretation of his character?
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