Jesse Eisenberg is playing it coy about why he will not reprise his role as Mark Zuckerberg in the follow-up to “The Social Network.”
Eisenberg soared to stardom playing the Facebook founder in the Academy Award-winning 2010 film but will not return for the sequel, ceding the part in the upcoming film “The Social Reckoning” to Jeremy Strong.
When asked during an Oct. 30 appearance on TODAY about reports that he passed on appearing in the sequel, Eisenberg, who earned an Oscar nomination for his role in “The Social Network,” linked back to an earlier comment made by Craig Melvin that the recent Louvre robbery was part of a promotion for Eisenberg’s upcoming movie, “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t.”
“You know, I was in Paris, and I had some tools, and I figured there was a way to make a little, you know, kind of more of a statement at the Louvre,” he joked.
“I see what you did there,” Craig chuckled.
“We both are playing chess,” Eisenberg continued with a grin.
“Your turn,” Craig said.
“Your turn? My turn? What do you have coming out?” Eisenberg replied, prompting Craig to burst out laughing.
“Why would you say no to a sequel to that?” Craig asked.
“For reasons that have nothing to do with how amazing that movie will be. Really, truthfully. When you play a character, at some point that you feel maybe you’ve grown into something,” he said.
“You’ve outgrown it,” Craig interjected.
“Yeah, something. But it’s a really wonderful movie,” Eisenberg continued. “I’m friends with Aaron Sorkin, who wrote and is directing this movie, and all of the reasons that I am not in it are completely unrelated to how brilliant it will be.”
Strong isn’t leaning on Eisenberg to help him prep for playing Zuckerberg. Earlier this month, he was asked by The Hollywood Reporter if he spoke to Eisenberg about the part.
“No, I think that has nothing to do with what I’m going to do,” Strong said.
Strong, who has previously made the films “Molly’s Game” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” with Aaron Sorkin, says he is excited to get cracking on “The Social Reckoning.”
“It’s one of the great scripts I’ve ever read. It speaks to our time, it touches the third rail of everything happening in our world,” he said. “It’s a great character — fascinating, complex — and I’m approaching it with great care and empathy and objectivity. I’ve made two films with Aaron and third time’s the charm.”
