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Jeremy Strong says he sent Aaron Sorkin emails in character as Mark Zuckerberg

In a New Yorker Radio Hour interview on Oct. 2, Jeremy Strong said he sometimes emailed director Aaron Sorkin as Mark Zuckerberg while making The Social Reckoning, which opens Oct. 9. Outlets split on tone: The A.V. Club was wry, Deadline was straightforward.

2 outlets · 1L · 1C · 0R First reported Account updated
Image: The A.V. Club
Image: Deadline

1 / 2

The story, neutrally told

Mixed · 2Jeremy Strong said in an interview with The New Yorker's David Remnick that he sent emails to Aaron Sorkin as if he were Mark Zuckerberg while making The Social Reckoning. Left · 1The A.V. Club reported that Strong sent the emails "sometimes at night" during filming and that they were defensive in tone. Mixed · 2Strong explained that when he wrote as Zuckerberg he had taken himself out of the picture. He said, "I've taken Jeremy out of this at that point, which I know sounds crazy, but it's really not."

Centre · 1Deadline reported that Strong, asked on The New Yorker Radio Hour on Oct. 2 whether he cares how Zuckerberg will react to the film, said yes. He said that is why he reached out to the Facebook founder. Centre · 1Strong said he "was defending him a lot" to Sorkin during production. He hopes the film is "a dialectic rather than a polemic" and avoids a "trend" of blaming Facebook for everything. Centre · 1The Social Reckoning, written and directed by Sorkin, is due out Oct. 9. It dramatizes the 2021 Facebook leak by whistleblower Frances Haugen and Jeff Horwitz, and its cast includes Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White, Bill Burr, Wunmi Mosaku, Billy Magnussen and Betty Gilpin.

Centre · 1In the same interview Strong addressed his method-acting reputation. He said his earlier request that Sorkin spray him with real tear gas on The Trial of the Chicago 7 was not meant to endanger anyone, and that it "involved no one else" and was for a close-up and its physiological effects. Left · 1The A.V. Club added that Strong said an Ibsen play he starred in was a response to a 2021 New Yorker profile by Michael Schulman, which he felt had ridiculed him.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left1 outlet

Framing
A wry commentary piece that treats the emails as more evidence of Strong's method-acting image, and wonders how Sorkin reacted.
Emphasis
Strong's discomfort with his reputation, the Ibsen play and the 2021 profile, and the comic image of Sorkin reading the emails.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not mention the film's release date, its subject, or Strong's stated reason for contacting Zuckerberg.
Charged language
“determinedly method Method Actor”“highly bemusing”
For example
“Jeremy Strong does not enjoy his reputation as Hollywood’s most determinedly method Method Actor.” — The A.V. Club
“it is still highly bemusing” — The A.V. Club

Centre1 outlet

Framing
A straightforward entertainment-news report built around Strong's quotes on whether he cares what Zuckerberg thinks of the film.
Emphasis
Strong's defence of Zuckerberg, his 'dialectic rather than a polemic' remark, the film's release date and subject, the tear-gas anecdote and the cast.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not mention the 'sometimes at night' timing, the Ibsen play or the 2021 profile.
For example
“Strong also talked about his penchant for intense method acting.” — Deadline
“Out Oct. 9, The Social Reckoning dramatizes the 2021 Facebook leak” — Deadline

Right0 outlets

No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.