The Social Network Cast Hit London
Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake and Aaron Sorkin talk to fans in London this week.
I did a report from the official press conference for The Social Network over at This Is Fake DIY, but the next day the cast and writer gave a fantastic free talk at the Apple Store, Regent Street.
The hour-long talk was a lot more relaxed and fun, so here are the highlights! Jesse Eisenberg talks about what drives the world's youngest billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, Andrew Garfield explains how his character of Eduardo Saverin is the "girlfriend" to Mark, and how Justin Timberlake's Sean Parker creates a kind of love triangle in this thrilling story of friendship, greed, power and the beginnings of Facebook. They also take the piss out of Timberlake the "star", the man who can now do everything.
West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin was on hand to explain why you don't have to be a fan of Facebook to enjoy David Fincher's latest film, and to sit there embarrassed while the cast lavished praise upon him. The Social Network is released on 15th October, and is one of the most essential films of the year.
Jesse, did you study footage of Mark, or were you careful not to do an impression?
Jesse: I guess I had to be careful, because we were discouraged from doing impressions, but i found it very helpful to have videos of Mark and to read interviews with him. I initially expected it to be limiting to play somebody real, because you are confined to do whatever they do, but I actually found it very freeing. I watched an interview with Mark before going to work, and I saw him licking his lips, and I would wonder why he was doing it at that point - is it something making him uncomfortable, is he being extra careful about what he's about to say? I would go to work and try and use that kind of tick in the scene. It gave me extra ammo to work with. I was doing a strange line reading on the line "is that a question?" David made me do 60 takes of the line, and came to me and asked why I kept doing that? I said, did you watch the 60 Minutes piece? And he said, months ago. I said I had that morning, and he says the line that way. "Oh okay, do that." [laughs]
What drives Mark?
Jesse There are a few things that drive him, but what's most interesting to me is what doesn't drive him - money, personal success and fame. A lot of the things that are the goal for people in business this way. You know, Mark is the first one in the office, the last one in the office, and there's this wonderful scene when they reach a million members and everyone goes out and celebrates. Justin's character goes to a few of those parties, and Mark is still at the office. That's what defines him the most.
Aaron: Jesse's right. It's important to note that money isn't terribly important to him, even to this day. He's a very complicated guy, he had a lot of motivations in the movie, and the largest being... well for those that don't know, Facebook was invented by a 19-year-old Harvard sophomore named Mark Zuckerberg in 2003, a blink of an eye ago. What started as a dorm room operation became what it is today, 500 million members. What he was doing originally, he was a shy, socially awkward guy. Not smooth with women, not smooth with anybody. Never invited to the parties, always with his nose pressed up against the glass of social life at college. What he's not, also - in the Eighties Hollywood made movies about very cuddly nerds who were easy to like, and there were always the jerk jocks. This isn't one of those. These people resent those stereotypes of nerds and there's a lot of anger in this guy, because the pretty girl still wants to go out with the star athlete, and not someone like him, who is running the universe. Because, among other things, he's a genius. Genius IQ, genius programmer, and a creative genius. He invented something that he needed, which was the ability to socialise by himself in his room, present only what he wanted to present, so people wouldn't have to see the real him, the part of him that had been told he was a loser his whole life. Frankly, the original motivation was a fluke. The movie begins with him being broken up with by girl who he's been out on a few dates with. He goes back to his dorm and starts drinking and blogging, and in a revenge stunt, first directed at the girl, then the entire female population of Harvard, he creates this thing that in the middle of the night, goes so instantly viral that it crashes the entire Harvard system. That was the beginning of Facebook.
Would Facebook have been created if Mark and Eduardo had been getting any at Harvard?
Andrew: [laughs] Absolutely not. Nothing is created unless that person has a need to create it. If Mark, and I'm talking within our story, had been able to talk in a genuine and comfortable way with people face to face, he wouldn't have needed to create a realm in which he felt comfortable relating. I don't know actually, but that's what I think.
Andrew, how does Eduardo fit in then?
Andrew: He's kind of the male girlfriend of the relationship, in a geniune way. At the beginning he's a big brother to Mark, and attempts to guide him through the social minefield of college life. He's a brilliant businessman, and he has more money than Mark. We later discover that may have been the motive that Mark had bringing Eduardo in to the venture. And eventually, Sean Parker, Justin's character is introduced, and it becomes a non-sexual love triangle, where one of us gets replaced in Mark's life. It's a story of betrayal.
Aaron: Eduardo had to be replaced, because Eduardo is Mark's conscience. Sean Parker couldn't have Mark's conscience around to do what he needed to do. Basically, Sean wants to have a cake party at Mark's house, but has to wait until his parents are gone, so he gets rid of the parents and starts the party.
Justin: What's great about the paradox of this film, when you walk out, you don't agree with every character, but you don't disagree with any of their points of view.
What was it like filming with Justin Timberlake the star? Were you starstruck?
Andrew: No. [laughs] Because, not only is Justin a prolific artist in many fields, he's also a very, very decent human being. So when you're faced with a decent human being you want to hate for being so talented, you have to swallow that very English undercutting thing of, "you can't be talented at everything mate, just chill out a bit". [laughter] Unfortunately, he was a delight! He's a regular, down to earth guy! He's got bones like the rest of us. Just gold bones. [laughter] Then we went to the MTV Awards, and myself, Jesse and Justin were presenting this guy Drake, I think he's a musician or something [laughter], and suddenly people were like... You are how you treat people, and this whole new demographic of people were there, and they were treating him like he was more than Justin. I turned to Jesse and went, "oh my god we're with Justin Timberlake!"
Justin: Give me a hole I can crawl into...
Andrew: [hugging Justin] It's all about love.
If you could have one friend on Facebook, who would it be?
Justin: Jesse Eisenberg.
Jesse: As a narcissist, I would have to say myself.
Andrew: Eduardo Saverin. I'd like him to be my friend in some respect.
Aaron: Can it be like Charles Dickens? [laughter]
Justin: Gandhi! You can talk about sandals.
What would your status update be right now?
Justin: These. Lights. Are. Bright.
Andrew: Buy Apple products.
Aaron: London's really cool. But since you asked this question, I need to keep repeating so everyone understands - the movie's not about Facebook, so someone who knows nothing, and doesn't care about Facebook has as much of a chance of enjoying this as someone who updates their status every 10 minutes. You don't have to be a Facebook lover to enjoy this movie.
Justin: That's kind of a long status update. [laughter]
Aaron: That's why I can't be on Facebook! I need 162 pages!
[ScreenGeek contributor Christa Ktorides, hooray] Watching the trailer and seeing the words "aged 23, world's youngest billionaire", as someone who is overdrawn, it automatically makes me hate Mark, and everyone that goes to Harvard. How do you approach not making them completely hateful characters?
Jesse: The situation they're in, and the unique experiences they have, it's universal, but in a different world. Their feelings are universal. The character I play is eagre to interact with other people, but is uncomfortable. I'm a thousandaire and I can relate to that. When you see the movie, you'll find yourself relating to not one, but several characters.
Justin: Like Aaron said, it's not your typical revenge of the nerd type story. You'll find yourself feeling sorry for the jock in this film. I want to add, as he's not here, that Armie Hammer gives not one, but two fantastic performances. He plays the Winklevoss twins, so imagine how many takes we had to for David, 70, 80, 90, Armie had to that twice. It's a feat.
Aaron: The only special effect in the movie is one you're not supposed to notice, and it's funny because those character, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, have the problem that you're describing. They feel Mark stole the idea from them, and this guy's got the best of them. They're not just identical twins, they're identical Adonises. Imagine JFK Jr if he was 6'5", 250 pounds and there were two of him. Incredibly goodlooking, they rowed crew for Harvard, for the Olympics, they will row crew again here in London in 2012. They are wealthy, they're entitled and they're impossibly goodlooking, and they understand that no one is going to feel sorry for them. That no one is going to believe that they could be victimised by Mark, for exactly the kind of reason that you're talking about. You will feel things for a guy who is the youngest billionaire in the world, particularly because he couldn't care less that he is. That what's going on inside of him is overtaking all of that.
Andrew and Jesse, what do you do online if you're not on Facebook?
Andrew: Google myself mostly... No I stopped doing that when someone commented on my eyebrows being so big. That was two years ago, so I stopped doing that. News blogs, funny sites, pictures of cats. Cats that look like Hitler? [referenced in the film]
Jesse: I read The Onion maybe every day.
How long did it take to write the script and when did David Fincher get involved?
Aaron: David got involved the day after I sent the script to the studio. It was approved right away, and sent to our only choice of director, which was David Fincher. He read it, and said yes right away, and that never happens in Hollywood. Writing and research went very fast - a little over a year, which, for me, is quick.
To the actors, what made you select this script?
Justin: I was sent the script and in the same sentence I heard Aaron Sorkin and Facebook. So I was immediately excited to read it, and it went by faster than I could've imagined. 162 pages, and it was like 80 pages. I just empathised with all the characters in the story, and the humanity of it, and the truths of it. I forgot that I was reading a screenplay about Facebook, as it was pitched to me. I found it about friendship, and youth, and money and power and notoriety can turn a friendship on its head, into a betrayal. That's been written forever in Greek tragedies.
Andrew: I think it should be said that most of the scripts that actors get sent aren't good at all, then there are really good scripts you'd do anything to be a part of, and then there's a script like this. It's an elite script, I've never read anything like it. There was no hesitation. We would've done anything to have been a part of this story. A story told so eloquently and uniquely by a writer with a true, personal voice. That's so embarrassing for him to hear! I mean it greatly. It was a one-off.
Photos: Julie Doherty
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