The Social Reckoning director talks Mark Zuckerberg recast as Succession star takes over role

The Social Reckoning writer-director Aaron Sorkin has explained why the role of Mark Zuckerberg was recast in The Social Network sequel, as Succession's Jeremy Strong replaced Jesse Eisenberg as the Facebook founder.

A sequel to 2010's The Social Network, directed by David Fincher and written by Sorkin, The Social Reckoning is a retelling of the 2021 Facebook leaks by whistleblower Frances Haugen, played by Anora star Mikey Madison. Haugen was aided by Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz, portrayed by The Bear's Jeremy Allen White in the film.

Speaking on the Kermode & Mayo's Take podcast, Sorkin shared that he first offered the role of Zuckerberg to Eisenberg, who'd played him in The Social Network, but the actor passed up.

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"Jesse didn't want to do it because, over the years, he's distressed that he's been conflated with this person who he doesn't really like that much," Sorkin said on the podcast. "And, you know, he's become now a very well-respected writer and director himself."

Sorkin then explained he approached Eisenberg at an Oscar party, but had kept quiet on having been at work on a sequel to The Social Network.

"As it happens, I hadn't told Jesse what I was doing over the last two or three years that I was writing this script," he said.

"I ran into him at an Oscar party, on an Oscar night when he was nominated. And I said, 'Listen, I'm going to be sending you something in a couple of weeks'. He smiled and said, 'Great'."

And that's when Strong, who's played real-life figures in The Apprentice and Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, came into play.

Sorkin recalled: "Just a few minutes later, I ran into Jeremy Strong, who asked me what I was up to. And I told him what I was writing. And he said, 'Hey, if for some reason Jesse doesn't want to do it, send it to me.'

"And that's what happened. And he's phenomenal in the film. It was like replacing Joe DiMaggio with Mickey Mantle," the filmmaker added.

"Yeah. We'll have to look up those references," podcast co-host Simon Mayo joked, to which Sorkin summed it up: "One great American baseball player with another American baseball player."

Last year, Eisenberg weighed in on not returning in the role of Zuckerberg.

Speaking on the Today show in October 2025, the writer-director of A Real Pain said: "Listen, for reasons that have nothing to do with how amazing that movie will be, really, truthfully, but when you play a character, you feel, at some point, you've grown into something else," he said.

"But it's a really wonderful movie," the actor added.

"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."

The Social Reckoning is released in cinemas on 9 October.

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Reporter, Digital Spy

Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy. 

Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).