What Jeremy Strong told Mark Zuckerberg about 'Social Reckoning' role

Brendan Morrow, USA TODAYWed, August 12, 2026 at 3:42 PM UTC

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Jeremy Strong has revealed he reached out to Mark Zuckerberg, and received a response back, before playing the Facebook entrepreneur in the upcoming movie "The Social Reckoning."

The "Succession" star, 47, shared the revelation in a new GQ profile published Aug. 12. Strong told the outlet that he got in touch with Zuckerberg after he signed on to play the Meta CEO in the new film from Aaron Sorkin.

"I wrote to him – I'm probably going to give Sony an aneurysm – I sent him an email," Strong said. "Just to say that I take this responsibility very seriously, and the veracity of it seriously, and I'm approaching it with respect."

Strong added that Zuckerberg wrote him back, but he did not share what the tech billionaire said. The two have not met in person.

"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 told GQ.

The Emmy-winning actor is taking over the role of Zuckerberg from Jesse Eisenberg, who played the part in "The Social Network," the Oscar-winning 2010 movie about the founding of Facebook. "The Social Reckoning" is a follow-up film, with Sorkin returning as writer and also stepping into the director's chair; David Fincher directed the first movie.

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For his part, Eisenberg revealed on The Hollywood Reporter's "Awards Chatter" podcast in 2025 that he tried to meet with Zuckerberg while he was in rehearsals for "The Social Network," but was advised against doing so.

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"I was driving up to meet him," Eisenberg recalled on the podcast. "I was told, 'We're not going to meet them.' Literally, I was in my car. I was just going to go to the [Facebook] office. I figured they would let me in. It was announced that I was in it. So I was driving upstate to see them in California, and I got a call from [producer] Scott Rudin, telling me, 'Do not go there.' He was telling me this, really, on behalf of Sony lawyers and stuff. He was telling me, 'You can't do that, for a variety of legal reasons.' "

Zuckerberg later made a cameo when Eisenberg hosted "Saturday Night Live" in 2011. The Meta CEO has condemned "The Social Network" for not being an accurate depiction of his life. "They just kind of made up a bunch of stuff that I found kind of hurtful," he said in 2014, per The Guardian.

Eisenberg declined to reprise the role in "The Social Reckoning." Speaking with Variety in June, he said he turned down the project because he's "moving in different directions in my life" and doesn't "want to be associated with that character" anymore.

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Sorkin, meanwhile, told Vanity Fair he spent three days trying to convince Eisenberg to play the part, but to no avail. The screenwriter and director noted Eisenberg "simply did not want to be conflated with Mark Zuckerberg anymore" and has "his problems with the guy."

Mikey Madison and Jeremy Allen White also star in "The Social Reckoning," which focuses on whistleblower Frances Haugen's (Madison) efforts to expose internal Facebook documents.

In a previous interview with USA TODAY, Strong said he prepared to play Zuckerberg by watching "everything he's ever said and done," adding, "I take it as an enormous responsibility. He's a very important person in our world, and the film touches on essential issues and third-rail issues of our time."

"The Social Reckoning" hits theaters on Oct. 9.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What Jeremy Strong told Mark Zuckerberg about 'Social Reckoning' role

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