Jesse Eisenberg distances himself from Mark Zuckerberg: 'I don't really like the comparison'

Eisenberg revealed why he chose not to reprise his role in the upcoming sequel to 'The Social Network'

Jesse Eisenberg has said he no longer wants to be associated with Mark Zuckerberg, explaining why he chose not to reprise his role in the upcoming sequel to The Social Network.

Speaking during an in-conversation event at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where he received the festival's President's Award, Eisenberg reflected on portraying the Facebook founder in David Fincher's acclaimed 2010 film.

According to Variety, the actor said he declined to return for Aaron Sorkin's sequel, The Social Reckoning, with Jeremy Strong taking over the role of Zuckerberg.

The sequel is set to focus on former Facebook engineer Frances Haugen, played by Mikey Madison, whose disclosures about the company became the basis for a series of reports by The Wall Street Journal. Jeremy Allen White will portray the newspaper's reporter.

Asked whether he felt any responsibility for shaping public perceptions of Zuckerberg, Eisenberg said he no longer wanted to be linked to the technology executive.

"In fact, at the time, the movie seemed like such a strange thing to me because no one really knew who he was," he said. "He was interviewed on '60 Minutes,' which is our big news show, but otherwise he wasn't in the public a lot. I thought of it like an interesting character. And then he's become famous and now I don't want to do the movie […] I don't want to be associated with him anymore because I don't really like the comparison."

Discussing social media more broadly, Eisenberg admitted he avoids using such platforms.

"It's not healthy. No human being has ever talked about themselves as much as I talk about myself. So I'm not on any social media. All that stuff scares me so much, you know, Facebook and social media, Twitter, whatever, because I already feel humiliated to be in public talking about myself. It's disgusting. All that stuff terrifies me."

He added that his view of Zuckerberg had changed over time.

"Then, being in the movie about it, too, made it even more scary because I see that the person who created this website is not a person who cares about people. I'm like: well, if this guy is the creator of this world, I don't want to live in that world."

Eisenberg is currently promoting his latest directorial feature, The Debut, starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti, which is scheduled for release in the United States on December 3.