Jeremy Allen White Slams Facebook’s Harmful Algorithm: "They Know, and They Continue"

• Collider's Steve Weintraub talks with Mikey Madison and Jeremy Allen White for The Social Reckoning.
• The actors discuss the things they learned while researching their roles.
• The pair also discuss delivering Sorkin's precise, dense dialogue.

In 2010, Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay for David Fincher’s The Social Network highlighted the bold and messy rise of Facebook from now-billionaire CEO Mark Zuckerberg, earning Sorkin an Academy Award for his masterful script. Over a decade later, as the consequences of Zuckerberg’s unchecked power and platform continue to surface, the writer-director revisits the world of Big Tech with The Social Reckoning.

The movie chronicles the investigation sparked by whistleblower and Facebook engineer Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison), who enlisted the help of Wall Street Journal tech reporter Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) to look into the company’s true knowledge of the dangers of its algorithm, and how it continues to turn a blind eye. The Social Reckoning also stars Oscar nominees Jeremy Strong as Zuckerberg and Wunmi Mosaku as the fictional Raya Akinola, Billy Magnussen as Teddy Marks, and comedian Bill Burr as Charlie Garrigan.

In this interview, Collider’s Steve Weintraub talks with Madison and White about working with Sorkin, the challenges of tackling his “very specific, very precise” dialogue, and the devastating things they learned while researching for their portrayals. You can watch the full conversation in the video above, with a transcript provided below.

There's a method to the madness.

Image via Sony Pictures

COLLIDER: I'm doing a supercut right now, and the question is, where do you like to sit in a movie theater?

MIKEY MADISON: Well, I know exactly where you like to sit at different times of the day, which is very interesting and precise. Usually, it depends on what movie theater it is, but if it's my local one, I kind of like to be towards the middle. Towards the middle, and maybe off to the left a little bit. But I like to be quite centered to the screen.

JEREMY ALLEN WHITE: I like off to the left, though, slightly. I don't know how many people you've heard with those slight things. I have a similar… My ideal movie-going time is like 11:30 a.m., like the first screening for a movie, so usually those theaters are pretty empty, and in that case, if I can get to the theater midday, I like to sit center, at a healthy distance away from the screen. If I'm seeing an evening movie, I like to be way up to the right. I don't exactly know why.

You are the first person to tell me different seats for different times of the day. It's fascinating.

WHITE: Thank you. [Laughs]

Jeremy Allen White Says Facebook "Had the Whole Story" About Its Harmful Algorithm

"They know, and they continue on."

Image via Sony Pictures

This is one of those really important movies that shines a light on what the F is actually going on with these technology companies, so for both of you, what did you learn that really angered you or frustrated you while doing this research?

MADISON: Yeah, I think it was learning all of the actual precise statistics that really put a lot into perspective for me, especially the ones surrounding teen mental health and young girls. So that was one that was quite effective and upsetting.

WHITE: I mean, before this film, I understood a lot about the spreading of misinformation, or I understood that there was this kind of novel thing going on with young people and mental health issues. I think what was new information, and frustrating to me — and this just speaks to kind of how ignorant I am walking around this world — I didn't understand that Facebook had the whole story. Like, they know exactly what is happening. They know exactly how this algorithm is affecting people. They are more knowledgeable than anybody. They have all the data, and they're still making these choices to keep the engagement going up higher.

I think I, in some kind of blind optimism, gave these big tech companies the benefit of the doubt, where they were like, “Oh, they've created something that's taking on a life of its own, and they don't understand exactly how damaging it is.” But the truth of the matter is, they know, and they continue on, and that's where the anger comes from.

Aaron Sorkin's Dialogue Was a "Challenging" Gift

"He writes these really complex worlds and environments and makes them entertaining and charismatic."

Image via Sony Pictures

This is a two-parter about Aaron Sorkin. For other actors out there that are desperate to work with Aaron, what does it actually cost to work with him? What do you pay him to be in the movie? I'm obviously joking.

WHITE: A quarter million. [Laughs]

Then part B is, getting to work with Aaron is an actor’s dream. His dialogue is so precise and fantastic. As actors, what was it like for you in the weeks leading up to filming, knowing you're going to be biting into this juicy dialogue?

MADISON: I mean, in terms of cost, personally, I don't feel like it cost anything. It was just an immense privilege to be able to work with someone as singular as him. He wrote such a spectacular screenplay, and so really, it was an honor to be able to do that and to work with Jeremy and all the incredible actors that we had in the movie.

And, yeah, his dialogue is very specific, very precise, and very Aaron. I mean, I think maybe he is the only writer-director that has, like people say, a “Sorkinism,” and it's because he is so, so singular and iconic in that way. So to be able to live in his world, it's a really interesting experience, and I'm grateful I had that opportunity.

WHITE: Yeah. I agree totally with Mikey. It was a real privilege. I think in the weeks leading up, I was nervous, but a good nervous. I was excited. I'd heard about how specific and exacting you have to be with Sorkin's dialogue, and I was excited about that challenge, I guess. I guess that would be the challenge is you're dealing with very long scenes and very dense dialogue, and you're also discussing worlds that are technically rather complex, so you're doing this balancing act of trying to remain super engaged and kind of playful at times, while also getting all this knowledge across.

But that's Sorkin's gift. That's what he does. He writes these really complex worlds and environments and makes them entertaining and charismatic. And so, at the end of the day, what was challenging was the best part. That was the gift of it.

The Social Reckoning opens in theaters on October 9.