Jesse Eisenberg isn’t afraid of hitting repost.
In fact, the star of The Social Network, who brought Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg to life in the 2010 film, is all for being involved in the rumored sequel—or any onscreen role.
“I'm an actor here,” he told E! News Nov. 17 at the Governors Awards in Los Angeles. “We'll do any job that anybody offers us. If there's a car commercial for a Pinto, I'll show up on set. Will I be in that movie? Yeah, I'll be in anything. If you're making a home movie for a kid, I’ll be in the home movie.”
And when it to actors who don’t want to reprise beloved roles or be involved in a sequel for fear of ruining a good thing, Jesse joked, “Yeah, I don’t have those feelings.”
“I don't care if I'm sitting in a Pinto and saying, ‘Hey, everybody, buy the Pinto. Or an Edsel,’” he added of how he’d want to be included. “I don't care. I'm just happy to be involved.” (For more with Jesse, tune into E! News tonight, Nov. 18 at 11p.m.)
But don’t go looking to the 41-year-old for any insider trading about what a part two of the Meta founder’s journey might hold.
“I've heard nothing about it,” he admitted. “Except for occasionally, like an interview, and they tell me.”
Thankfully, however, writer Aaron Sorkin has shared his feelings on how The Social Network—which also starred Andrew Garfield, Armie Hammer and Justin Timberlake—might be adapted now almost 15 years later. In fact, he’s drawn inspiration for the script from a recent historical event—the January 6 United States Capitol attack.
Specifically, the West Wing creator feels Facebook and the attack to be inextricably linked. As he shared in April during a live recording of The Town podcast, "I blame Facebook for January 6."
"Facebook has been, among other things, tuning its algorithm to promote the most divisive material possible," Aaron continued. "Because that is what will increase engagement. That is what will get you to—what they call inside the hallways of Facebook—‘the infinite scroll.'"
Though on exactly why he thinks the Capitol attack and Facebook are linked, the 63-year-old kept it coy, adding, “You’re going to need to buy a movie ticket.”
So while it doesn’t sound like a Social Network 2 would be a direct continuation, it sounds like there would likely still be room for Jesse’s interpretation of Mark.
But in the meantime, Jesse is focused on the release of his newest film A Real Pain, which, in addition to writing and directing, he stars in alongside Kieran Culkin.
“Kieran’s a singular genius,” Jesse gushed of his costar. “We worked together very closely, and yet I could still not tell you how he works or what goes on in his mind. He just lives in this kind of spontaneous universe of his own making. He's so brilliant, and was always like, exactly right on.”
The Zombieland alum continued, “And yet I never saw him kind of question himself, or second guess anything. He just lives in the moment in a way that's really perfect for this character. And as a director, that’s just the greatest gift in the world, somebody who's so alive.”
--Reporting by Nikki Novak