Writer and co−stars discuss production process of ‘The Social Network.’
My Interview of Aaron Sorkin, Jesse Eisenberg and Armie Hammer.
By Zach Drucker
Reprinted With the permission of Tufts Daily.
Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg
Armie Hammer as Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss
Writer Aaron Sorkin
The Social Network, a film about computer magnate Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and his rise to fame as the founder of Facebook, burst into theaters nationwide amid rave reviews and boatloads of revenue. Recently, I had the chance to speak at a roundtable interview with writer Aaron Sorkin and co−stars Eisenberg and Armie Hammer (grandson of the philanthropist Armand Hammer) , who plays the Winklevoss twins, a set of Harvard crew champions who believe Zuckerberg stole their idea.
Question: Do you see Mark Zuckerberg as sympathetic or more of a villain?
Jesse Eisenberg: I can only view him sympathetically because that's what I was hired to do. I spent six months, 14 hours a day, in his shoes, constantly trying to find a way to rationalize my character's behavior because my character's behavior is in conflict with others' and, in some cases, is hurtful to others. I developed a great affection for the character.
Armie Hammer: There's not really a villain in this film. There are moments when each character becomes a sort of anti−hero, but there's not any one person who's the antagonist throughout the entire movie. Even Mark Zuckerberg - at the end of the movie, your heart almost breaks for the guy. No one's curling their moustache like, "Mwahaha!"
Aaron Sorkin: I can't write characters that are built out of one−dimensional evil. I have to like the character and be able to empathize and identify with the character. Jesse brings so much humanity to this part and never judges the character. He never asks the audience to like him. Jesse loved Mark every bit as much as I did.
Q: How did you go about doing research for "The Social Network?"
AS: There's a great deal of available research. The first scene: he goes back to his dorm room and begins drinking, blogging, hacking, creating. I had Mark's blog from that night. You're hearing his blog verbatim.
JE: I based [my role] on a few things. Aaron's characterization of Mark was really thorough and rich and nuanced. I supplemented my preparation with every video, every audio clip, every interview, every picture I could find. I found his college application to Harvard. I read that he was a fencer, so I took fencing lessons because I thought he had a unique posture and I wanted to emulate that posture. I tried to understand who the real person was.
Q: So, [Armie], what was it like playing two people?
AH: Schizophrenic. As an actor, you live to portray roles. And when you get a call like, "They want to hire you for a David Fincher project, and you get to play two roles," [it's] like Christmas. Getting to play both [of the Winklevoss twins] was great because there's that element of duality that's in all of us.
Q: How was it working with great movie men like [director] David Fincher and [producer] Scott Rudin?
AH: It was the best. It was like going to film school with the two best professors who have to be around you for 12 hours a day, [where] you had a class of awesome people who you got along with, were extremely intelligent and wanted to work as hard as you did. It propels your motivation to bring your "A" game.
JE: They demand such a high level of performance. David Fincher likes to do scenes many, many times. The first scene, we filmed it 99 times. I actually would have liked to keep going because, with a great script like Aaron's, it offers the actor endless possibilities.
Q: Did you talk to Mark Zuckerberg about what happened?
AS: Scott Rudin and I spent six to eight weeks courting Mark and Facebook, trying to get their cooperation and participation. Ultimately, Mark said no. He knew what story we were going to tell. I was relieved because I didn't want this movie to appear as if it were a Facebook production. We were able to tap into a guy who's got his nose pressed up against the window of [college social life], a guy who's not invited to the cool kids' table and a guy who refuses to be the cuddly nerd that we made movies about in the '80s. He happens to be a guy with an IQ of 7,000, who was able to invent a way for people to reinvent themselves.
Q: Have you ever had a situation where Facebook was an instigator?
AH: A really close person in my life starting dating this girl long distance. They had a great relationship. He went on a family vacation and a picture got taken of my buddy with another girl in his lap laughing. The picture got uploaded on Facebook and his girlfriend in Texas saw it and was like, "What is that picture!?"
JE: I signed up for Facebook during the rehearsal process for this movie, for three weeks, under an alias. And I made no friends!
Hollywood Juggernauts’ Collaboration on ‘The Social Network’ makes for best film of the year so far.
Reviewed by Zach Drucker, 20, a junior at Tufts College who will be attending Universidad de Sevilla for the Spring 2011 semester.
Every morning millions of people log on to Facebook to check messages from their friends, create events, "like" Chad Ochocinco [of the Cincinnati Bengals) or simply ogle pictures of the pretty girl in their math class.
But have you ever wondered about the story behind the $25 billion online networking endeavor? Loosely based on the book The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal" by Ben Mezrich, The Social Network" is a riveting and eye−opening biography of controversial Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
As filming for The Social Network got underway, the perfect ingredients fell into place. While Mezrich wrote his book, Aaron Sorkin, the mastermind behind A Few Good Men" (1992) and The West Wing (1999−2006), began the script for a film adaptation. David Fincher, acclaimed director of Fight Club (1999), signed on to direct and Hollywood hotshot Scott Rudin threw his hat in the ring as producer.
Arguably one of the most talented film triumvirates ever, the trio was able to balance creative input and ego to make the best film of the year so far.
Fincher's talents obviously aid the mounting suspense of the film, but Sorkin's script provides the true flash of genius. Up until now, Zuckerberg has been shrouded in mystery; many people know that he has been tied up in lawsuits regarding the creation of Facebook, but most disregard rumors as distorted hearsay.
The Social Network provides a seemingly accurate depiction of the chronology of Facebook, according to reliable sources formerly close to Zuckerberg, dating back to a drunken blog−tirade in Zuckerberg's Harvard dorm room in 2003. Yet Sorkin's script is an intricate tapestry that has considerable depth. Rather than slander Zuckerberg's name and pit the audience against him, Sorkin portrays him as a character that arouses simultaneous feelings of disgust and sympathy.
Sorkin's polished use of dialogue also adds to the depth of the script. He sets the tone in the first scene with a captivating exchange between Zuckerberg and his then−girlfriend, Erica (Rooney Mara), revealing at the same time both Zuckerberg's awkward behavior and his condescending nature.
As most moviegoers can attest, a top−notch script does not ensure film perfection. Instead, Fincher had to rely on the performances of up−and−coming young actors. Jesse Eisenberg (who shone in the 2005 movie, The Squid and the Whale) excels at capturing the narcissism and eccentricities of Zuckerberg - who used his own face as the logo of the original Facebook homepage - while counteracting his repellent traits with an inherent likeability and an underlying naïveté.
Rather than be outperformed by Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, who plays Zuckerberg's original co−founder, Eduardo Saverin, shines throughout the film. He oozes emotion through his passionate portrayal of the best friend who is unjustly ousted from a multi−billion dollar pursuit.
One other notable figure in the film is Armie Hammer, a stalwart star who succeeds in playing both of the divergent personalities of the Winklevoss twins (or "Winklevi"), Cameron and Tyler, a duo who believe that they sowed the seed that blossomed into Facebook.
The one blemish on an otherwise perfect casting job happens to be the sought−after Justin Timberlake. Though J.T. never ceases to make crowds laugh as a recurring Saturday Night Live guest, he seems uncomfortable and out of place as the wheeling and dealing creator of Napster, Sean Parker.
Though there has been some contention about the factuality of the film from Zuckerberg himself, The Social Network is a highly believable thrill ride. Throughout all of the litigation periods, sinister scheming and drunken web design projects, there is truly never a dull moment in the movie. The many interwoven storylines are intense and hit home with an audience that understands the magnitude of Facebook. The Social Network reflects all of the capitalistic whims that turn college kids into millionaires and friends into plaintiffs.
The film truly defines the college−age generation and depicts an unsettling picture of peer judgment and group exclusivity. But the most haunting part of the film experience happens after you have left the theater: The very next time you turn on a computer and log onto Facebook, things will never be the same.
The Social Network
Reviewed by: Ashleigh McPherson, 19, a freshman at Northern Virginia Community College who is planning to transfer to University of Virginia in the Fall 2011. She is the daughter of Bill McPherson, My Kind of New York’s web designer.
The Social Network is a film about Mark Zuckerberg, a Harvard student, and his development of the social networking site facebook.com. The movie is based upon the book Accidental Millionaires by Ben Mezrich. It begins with Mark creating a page called “Facemash,” a precursor to facebook, where Harvard students could compare girls on campus. The site created such a buzz, and internet traffic, it crashed Harvard’s network. Because of this incident, Mark gained cult-like status, despite his socially awkward nature. This recognition caused him to be approached by members of the popular Harvard crew team who wanted him to assist in the creation of their more in-depth social network. The story behind the creation and development of facebook was illustrated in a unique manor as told through depositions and flashbacks. These depositions were taking place simultaneously within two lawsuits filed against Mark Zuckerberg.
What makes this movie stand out against the rest is how the director conveyed the story while jumping between the testimony of the two lawsuits and flashbacks without confusing the viewer. I don’t know if they would have been able to convey the story better if it were told in a different manner. Throughout the movie, you fall in love with the disrespectful, nerdy, blunt personality that is facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook has become a cultural staple, a daily activity for high school and college students alike. The storytellers acknowledge this throughout the film with various inside jokes and tongue-in-cheek remarks like the phrase “facebook me” and the importance of an accurate relationships status. I felt the movie was a great portrayal of all the people involved. The casting was on point and the characters were permitted the ability to properly develop as the story unfolds. For facebook users and non-facebook users alike, this movie is entertaining, interesting and will leave you and your friends debating the outcome. I would have never guessed a social networking website would have caused so much controversy during its inception and development.
Critics and moviegoers alike have stated, and I totally agree that The Social Network is one of the best movies in 2010. Do see it and let me know what you think . Facebook me at www.facebook.com/gleek2themaxx |
