{"id":625251,"date":"2026-10-09T10:10:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T10:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/625251\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T10:10:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T10:10:17","slug":"i-only-ever-heard-jeremy-speak-in-mark-zuckerbergs-voice-until-his-last-day-of-shooting-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/625251\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I only ever heard Jeremy speak in Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s voice until his last day of shooting\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing and ace screenwriter behind A Few Good Men, shakes his head and smiles. \u201cI keep saying Facebook<\/a>,\u201d he says apologetically. \u201cBut it\u2019s Meta<\/a> now.\u201d <\/p>\n

Sorkin<\/a>, who won an Academy Award for his screenplay for The Social Network, the 2010 film about how Mark Zuckerberg<\/a> devised Facebook (as it then was), really ought to know.<\/p>\n

For more than a decade, every time the social media<\/a> billionaire made headlines \u2013 his MMA training, his kill-what-you-eat dinner with Jack Dorsey, his science-dinner brush with Elon Musk<\/a>, his purchase of an Irish castle<\/a> \u2013 fans have asked Sorkin to write a follow-up to that origin story.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been so many times in the last 16 years, really anytime Facebook would be in the news \u2013 Cambridge Analytica, that kind of thing \u2013 when I\u2019d get a phone call saying, \u2018You should really return to Facebook. Write a sequel.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

And on an unusually bright, autumnal morning in London, Sorkin has landed with just that. Sort of. <\/p>\n

The Social Reckoning, he says, is not a follow-up in the strictest sense.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019ve realised that there is going to be no convincing anyone that this isn\u2019t a sequel to The Social Network, even though what it is really is another movie about Facebook, written by the same writer who wrote The Social Network, wherein one of the characters from The Social Network is also a character in this. It\u2019s as if Henry Hill from Goodfellas showed up in Casino.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sorkin finally found his hook for a second Zuckerberg-centred feature in the 2021 Facebook leak by the whistle-blower Frances Haugen. A data engineer and former company loyalist, Haugen was nothing like the disgruntled or wronged workers one might expect to find testifying against a former employer before the United States<\/a> Senate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m introduced to her,\u201d Sorkin says. \u201cShe has a book proposal, and she seems very interesting to me, but I don\u2019t understand a word that she\u2019s saying. She has an IQ of 3,000 or something. <\/p>\n

\"AaronAaron Sorkin and Mikey Madison on the set of Sorkin’s film The Social Reckoning, in which Madison plays the Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen. Photograph: Sony Pictures <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I meet Jeff Horwitz, the Wall Street Journal reporter who broke her story, and the same thing is happening there. Until I asked Jeff Horwitz \u2013 this is now about a year into banging my head against the wall and trying to figure out if there\u2019s a movie there \u2013 a dramatist\u2019s question, which was: \u2018What was the inciting action for Frances?\u2019 One day she wasn\u2019t a whistle-blower, and the next day she was. What happened?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Social Reckoning dramatises the inciting action in a punchy overture about Meta\u2019s algorithms and the purposeful radicalisation of the platform\u2019s users.<\/p>\n

\u201cI imagined a prologue and wrote it,\u201d Sorkin says. \u201cI knew I had to write another 100 scenes if anyone was going to watch this movie. But once I had that scene I had to write the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n

The peculiar polarisation of US politics that has slowly swamped the rest of the planet, courtesy of Facebook and other social media platforms, also sneaked up on Sorkin. In particular, he was shocked by some of the Maga demographics.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou assume it\u2019s a certain kind of person,\u201d he says. \u201cThe stereotype is a poorly educated, southern, redneckish kind of person. I live in Los Angeles, and I was frightened by the fact that some were people who live and work in Beverly Hills. Who are women! Who live and work in Beverly Hills! I don\u2019t know what the source of anger or ignorance is.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Social Reckoning stars Mikey Madison as Haugen, who was originally a Facebook engineer in the company\u2019s \u201ccivic integrity\u201d division. Alarmed by the platform\u2019s wilful spreading of misinformation and threats to electoral security, she reluctantly turns to Horwitz (played by Jeremy Allen White<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\"JeremyJeremy Allen White and Mikey Madison in Aaron Sorkin’s film The Social Reckoning, in which White plays the journalist Jeff Horwitz and Madison plays the Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen. Photograph: Sony Pictures <\/p>\n

Their cagey, chatty encounters often resemble a screwball comedy more than the Deep Throat sequences in All the President\u2019s Men. But a masterly turn by Jeremy Strong<\/a> as Zuckerberg flags an obsession with power and the bottom line.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t, or didn\u2019t, with Social Reckoning, try to really get inside Mark\u2019s head for a motivation,\u201d Sorkin says. \u201cI was inside his head, or tried to be inside his head, for other things. But motivation? It\u2019s tough for me to figure. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe money can\u2019t possibly be motivational. I think, right now, he is worth $120 billion. There\u2019s nothing you can buy for $120 billion that you can\u2019t buy for $119 billion. So it can\u2019t be money. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhy this need for growth at all costs? Once you are twice as big as the biggest country on Earth, wow, what\u2019s getting you up in the morning to go to work? And why are you making these terrible decisions?\u201d<\/p>\n

The ethics of Zuckerberg\u2019s actions, as depicted in The Social Reckoning, are queasy. Sadly, he\u2019s not wrong about the business model. Ragebait sells.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Frances Haugen and Jeff Horwitz uncovered is that, not only is Facebook pumping misinformation out into the water supply, the air supply \u2013 alarming misinformation \u2013 but the distribution is industrial-strength.<\/p>\n

\"JeremyJeremy Strong in Aaron Sorkin’s film The Social Reckoning, in which he plays the Facebook and Meta billionaire Mark Zuckerberg. Photograph: Sony Pictures <\/p>\n

\u201cIn an effort to get you to stay on the platform a little bit longer, they want to give you things that you\u2019re going to reshare. That\u2019s what keeps you on the platform the longest. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd they know the things you\u2019re most likely to share are anything that makes you angry. Facebook is trying to make you angry. That\u2019s the business they\u2019re in, and business is booming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sorkin has never met Zuckerberg. But he is familiar with Zuckerberg\u2019s legal representatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Meta got wind of this movie, I know that Sony got some strong letters from their lawyers. They wanted to see the script. Of course, we don\u2019t show the script to people who aren\u2019t making the movie, but they let us know that they\u2019re there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Social Network, Sorkin acknowledges, was a tough act to follow. The film, widely regarded as David Fincher\u2019s best, received eight Oscar nominations and won three: best adapted screenplay for Sorkin, best original score and best film editing. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s few coins thrown to the GAA should not fool usOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Sharp dialogue, memorable characters, Fincher\u2019s stylish direction and the groundbreaking soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross continue to win it new fans. <\/p>\n

Diehards still approach Jesse Eisenberg, who played Zuckerberg so memorably, to ask him to sign autographs with his line \u201cI\u2019m CEO, bitch.\u201d That\u2019s part of the reason the actor didn\u2019t want to revisit the role. <\/p>\n

\u201cJesse has a lot of fun memories of The Social Network, and he understands that it did a lot for him,\u201d Sorkin says. \u201cBut he doesn\u2019t like being conflated with Mark Zuckerberg. He doesn\u2019t like the guy. And Jesse is also a very well-respected writer and director now.\u201d<\/p>\n

It has all worked out. The best scenes in The Social Reckoning concern Zuckerberg preparing to face US authorities, aided by a small squadron of media advisers fussing over every phrase and tie. <\/p>\n

The film is another chance for Jeremy Strong to shine. The actor told GQ last month that he contacted Zuckerberg after being cast.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wrote to him \u2013 I\u2019m probably going to give Sony an aneurysm \u2013 I sent him an email,\u201d he explained. \u201cJust to say that I take this responsibility very seriously, and the veracity of it seriously, and I\u2019m approaching it with respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t yet know what Zuckerberg said in response, but Strong channels just the right amount of weird to convey the inscrutable billionaire.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Try! review: In this charming Irish documentary, everyone\u2019s a winnerOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no disrespect to Jesse \u2013 and I did go to Jesse first \u2013 but Jeremy had said to me, if for some reason Jesse doesn\u2019t want to do it, that he wanted to do it,\u201d Sorkin says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he gives a thunderous performance. He is, as you know, a very immersive actor. So he showed up on his first day of shooting. And I only ever heard him speak in Mark\u2019s voice. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe never used his own voice until his last day of shooting. After I called, \u2018Cut \u2013 check the gate,\u2019 he walked up to me and was using his own voice. And I would bet you anything that, off the set, when he went back to his hotel, when he was talking to his wife and kids, that he was also using Mark\u2019s voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sorkin seems bemused by the idea that The Social Reckoning is his fourth film as a director. He still thinks of himself as a playwright. <\/p>\n

\"JeremyJeremy Strong in Aaron Sorkin’s film The Social Reckoning, in which he plays the Facebook and Meta billionaire Mark Zuckerberg. Photograph: Sony Pictures <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m most comfortable doing that,\u201d he says. \u201cWith film, with television, I kind of try to fake my way.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2017 he turned in Molly\u2019s Game<\/a>, a biopic based on the Olympic-class skier turned poker mogul Molly Bloom, to his producer. \u201cThey told me, \u2018You\u2019re not done,\u2019\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

So began a directorial run that has also taken in The Trial of the Chicago 7<\/a> from 2020, and Being the Ricardos<\/a> from 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was my second choice to direct The Social Reckoning,\u201d Sorkin says, laughing. \u201cDavid Fincher was my first choice. But David has some exclusive deal at Netflix. He just wasn\u2019t able to do this. He was also kind of busy directing Quentin\u2019s movie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fincher has wrapped on The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, a spin-off from Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood, written by Tarantino, and heading to cinemas in November before landing on Netflix in early December.<\/p>\n

Sorkin\u2019s accidental directing career is typical of his haphazard path into the arts. An aspiring actor, he graduated with a degree in musical theatre from Syracuse University, in New York state, before heading to New York City, where he worked odd jobs, including as a singing-telegram performer. <\/p>\n

He had scored some early off-off-Broadway successes when his sister\u2019s experiences as a lawyer with the United States Navy\u2019s legal branch, the Judge Advocate General\u2019s Corps, inspired the stage version of A Few Good Men. Sorkin is reviving that play-turned-Oscar-winner on Broadway. <\/p>\n

\u201cI love that I\u2019m able to do both,\u201d he says. \u201cMy last two films both opened during Covid. A lot of people saw them, but they never played in front of an audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing that replicates that experience of sitting with a group of strangers in a dark room. Laughing at the same thing. Crying at the same thing. Gasping at the same thing. When it works, there\u2019s nothing like it. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd, as it happens, A Few Good Men previews on Broadway the day before The Social Reckoning opens. October is a big month for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sorkin\u2019s mother was a teacher. His father was a copyright lawyer and second World War veteran who went to college courtesy of the GI Bill. The younger Sorkin was, he notes, the first person in his family to get into show business. But not the last.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know where the gene came from, but my daughter, Roxy, has just finished her first feature,\u201d he says, laughing. \u201cIt\u2019s a material breach of the deal I made with God on the day she was born. But here we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Social Reckoning is in cinemas from Friday, October 9th<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing and ace screenwriter behind A Few Good Men, shakes his head…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":625252,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[38894,307218,430,29981,516,156,4636,288999,166508,2379,68169,41299,897,898,173181,111,139,69,2584,35037,196735],"class_list":["post-625251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-aaron-sorkin","tag-cambridge-analytica","tag-celebrities","tag-david-fincher","tag-elon-musk","tag-entertainment","tag-facebook","tag-frances-haugen","tag-jack-dorsey","tag-jeremy-allen-white","tag-jeremy-strong","tag-jesse-eisenberg","tag-mark-zuckerberg","tag-meta","tag-mikey-madison","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-oscars","tag-quentin-tarantino","tag-trent-reznor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=625251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/625252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}