Jessie Eisenberg recalls going against studio advice and trying to meet Mark Zuckerberg while filming The Social Network: "I figured they would let me in"

Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg holding a Facebook business card during The Social Network, one of the best movies on HBO Max. — (Image credit: Sony Pictures)

Not every actor gets the chance to meet the real person they are playing, but when Jessie Eisenberg was filming the 2010 Facebook drama The Social Network, he was told not to meet the website’s creator Mark Zuckerberg.

"I was driving up to meet him because I was told [by producers], 'No, we’re not going to [set up a meeting for you],'" said Eisenberg during an episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast. "I was going to just go to the office and I figured they would let me in... I just wanted to be in a room with him, just to see what the feeling is like."

This was back when David Fincher’s drama following the birth of Facebook had just been announced, with Eisenberg set to play the tech whizz Zuckerberg himself. As a keen then-25-year-old, the actor simply made his way to Menlo Park in Northern California to sit down with Zuckerberg. However, it sounds as though the two never actually met.

The accolades just keep on coming as Eisenberg’s most recent project A Real Pain, written and directed by and starring Eisenberg, has been nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards. The movie follows two cousins (Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin) on a trip to Poland to visit Holocaust sites – see our A Real Pain review for more.

I'm the Junior Social Media Editor here at GamesRadar+, handling all of Total Film's social platforms. However, I also write, covering all things film and TV for the site's entertainment section. I joined GamesRadar+ in 2023 and have been here ever since. I previously worked in communications after graduating with an MA in journalism. In my spare time, you can find me binging horror movies or getting lost in a cosy little game on my Switch.