Jesse Eisenberg, who plays Facebook founder and billionaire Mark Zuckerberg in the film The Social Network, defends his character saying, “As far as the movie is concerned, I don’t view anything that my character did in the movie as terrible because it was my job to defend him everyday. To me everything he did was not only defendable but right, even creating this site that he later feels bad about. The difference between what my character does and what some of the other characters do in the movie is that what my character does becomes so public and what the others do becomes forgotten. And like everything else in the world, the things that people do in the public eye have greater resonance and significance.”
But the 27 year old star also admits that he has never met the real Mark Zuckerberg and would like to meet him someday. “My impression is really formed more from the character in the movie. I don’t know the real Mark Zuckerberg, though I was like everybody else delighted to see this very generous donation he made a while ago. And as I said, I developed a great affection over the course of filming and even over the course of doing the publicity tour we’ve done and I’ve been asked that. The more I think about it the greater affection I develop. In the movie the character that [screenwriter] Aaron [Sorkin] created is a guy that is desperately trying to fit in and doesn’t have the social wherewithal to do so. I could certainly relate to that. And almost to cope creates this incredible tool to interact in a way that he feels comfortable. And because of his incredible insight, 500 million other people also feel comfortable using that tool. It’s just a fascinating character and complicated in all the right ways, so even though he maybe acts in a way that would be hurtful to other characters by the end of the movie, it’s totally understandable.”
‘The Social Network’ releases in India on 12th November, 2010.
