The Social Network star Jesse Eisenberg revealed he wasn’t allowed to meet Mark Zuckerberg to do research for the movie. The 2010 film is a true story based on Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg, who created Facebook and turned it into a global phenomenon alongside his partners Eduardo Saverin and Sean Parker. In addition to Eisenberg, The Social Network cast includes Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, and Armie Hammer. The film received rave reviews upon its release and currently has a score of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Speaking on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, Eisenberg admitted that he wanted to meet Zuckerberg before filming The Social Network. However, the film’s producers hadn’t set up a meeting, which prompted the actor to drive to Facebook’s offices. On the way there, Eisenberg revealed he received a call from Scott Rudin, one of the producers, who informed him that he couldn’t visit Zuckerberg “for a variety of legal reasons.” Read Eisenberg’s full comments below:

I was driving up to meet him because I was told [by producers], ‘No, we’re not going to [set up a meeting for you],’ So I was literally in my car driving up. I was going to just go to the office and I figured they would let me in. [The film] was announced that I was in it. I just wanted to be in a room with him, just to see what the feeling is like. It just seemed like the bare minimum of research. How could you act in a movie [when] there’s a living person over there?

I got a call from Scott Rudin telling me: ‘Do not go there.’ He was telling me this on behalf of Sony’s lawyers. He was telling me, ‘You can’t do that for a variety of legal reasons.’

Jesse Eisenberg Was Praised For His Performance In The Social Network

The Social Network Is Perhaps Eisenberg’s Best Role

Even though Eisenberg was unable to meet with Zuckerberg to prepare for his role, he still received a lot of acclaim for the movie and was even nominated for Best Actor at the 2011 Academy Awards. It may be good that Eisenberg never met with Zuckerberg before filming began, as the CEO of Meta, which was formerly known as Facebook, has continuously expressed his dissatisfaction with The Social Network.

Even though The Social Network is based on a true story, Zuckerberg has claimed that most of the movie is fictionalized. The ending of The Social Network paints Zuckerberg as a lonely, morally gray figure who betrayed his best friend. Therefore, it was likely expected that the Facebook founder wouldn’t like the movie. Regardless, the movie is loved by many around the world and has been regarded as one of David Ficher’s best films.

Our Take On Eisenberg’s Comments About Not Being Allowed To Meet Mark Zuckerberg

The Social Network Is Critical Of Mark Zuckerberg

It’s likely that the producers didn’t want Eisenberg to meet Zuckerberg because the story of The Social Network is very critical of the Facebook creator. It’s possible that meeting Zuckerberg in real life would have impacted Eisenberg’s performance. Plus, the legal matter seems legitimate, as proven by the recent headline about the Michael Jackson biopic movie, where an oversight from the estate led to the film reshooting its final third act. Nevertheless, it is fascinating to learn that if Eisenberg got his way, he would’ve met Zuckerberg before he began filming The Social Network.

Source: Awards Chatter podcast