Mark Zuckerberg ‘has a different function’ in The Social Reckoning

Aaron Sorkin has explained how Mark Zuckerberg’s character differs in The Social Reckoning.

Mark Zuckerberg is “not a villain” in The Social Reckoning.

Jeremy Strong plays the billionaire businessman in The Social Reckoning, the sequel to The Social Network, the 2010 biographical drama film, and Aaron Sorkin has explained how Zuckerberg’s character differs in the new movie.

Aaron, 65 – who wrote and directed The Social Reckoning – explained to Variety: “The character of Mark Zuckerberg has a different function in this film than he did in The Social Network.

“He was an antihero, but he was the protagonist in The Social Network, and Frances Haugen is the protagonist in The Social Reckoning. But both Jeremy and I agreed that Mark is not a villain; he’s an antihero, which is to say, his goal is good, right? He just wants to connect people. That’s good, but his methods have become perverted along the way.

“I know that when I’m writing an antihero, you can’t judge the character. You have to write the character as if they’re making their case to God why they should be allowed into heaven.

“Jeremy felt the same way about playing the character. He was Mark Zuckerberg’s biggest defender from the beginning — before he started shooting, during his shooting, and afterward.

“I didn’t read it, but I know that he wrote a letter to Mark, letting him know that he planned on playing the part respectfully and in Mark’s defence.”

Meanwhile, Jeremy recently explained that he’s determined to “run towards the danger” in his career.

The actor told The Hollywood Reporter: “What we do is absurd. I’m not Mark Zuckerberg, right? But my job for the time I make this movie is to believe that I am with authority. And that requires a great deal of concentration — which I think people project all kinds of nonsense onto — and a lot of trust between Aaron and I.

“And Aaron extends me an immense amount of trust, so I think my job is to meet that trust with as much courage as I can muster and be willing to go way the f*** out on a limb and maybe go up in flames. That’s the risk I have to take”.

Jeremy relished the experience of working with Aaron, and Jeremy is determined to keep taking risks in his career.

He said: “When he asked me to do this one, Sarah Polley wrote a book recently called Run Towards the Danger, and that’s what I have to do: run towards the danger.”