Jeremy Strong confirmed in an interview published Wednesday that he reached out to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg after he was cast as the Facebook co-founder in Aaron Sorkin’s forthcoming “Social Network” sequel, “The Social Reckoning.”

“I wrote to him—I’m probably going to give Sony an aneurysm—I sent him an email,” Strong told GQ. “Just to say that I take this responsibility very seriously, and the veracity of it seriously, and I’m approaching it with respect.”

The Oscar nominee confirmed that Zuckerberg wrote him back but declined to share what the Meta CEO said. According to Strong, he and Zuckerberg have only been in the same room once, when the actor presented an award at the Breakthrough Prize ceremony last year to University of Washington biochemist David Baker. The two did not allegedly meet that day.

Strong told GQ that, had Zuckerberg invited him to Meta’s offices after their private correspondence, he would have declined out of a desire to keep some distance between him and his subject. The actor also acknowledged the public perception of Zuckerberg.

“I know that he is a reviled person and not a popular person in our culture, but I do not think you should have an actor playing him who wants to set out to condemn him,” Strong said. “It’s crazy to take this on at all. It’s crazy.”

“It feels incredibly fraught to talk about the movie, to talk about Mark and being the person who is playing Mark and representing Mark in a sense to the world and to posterity; I feel an enormous sense of weight and responsibility,” the actor added. “My job is to understand and defend his point of view and fight his fight.”

Strong compared his decision to play Zuckerberg to his “Apprentice” co-star Sebastian Stan’s choice to portray a young Donald Trump in that Oscar-nominated film and his “Deliver Me from Nowhere” co-star Jeremy Allen White’s willingness to step into the shoes of Bruce Springsteen.

“It’s the kind of role that fascinates me. It’s like Sebastian playing Trump. You are wearing the cape. It’s like Jeremy playing Bruce,” Strong explained. “The perils of that could not be greater. To commit to it, and to be free within it, is a great challenge.”

Strong, of course, stepped in to play Zuckerberg in place of Jesse Eisenberg, who earned an Oscar nomination in 2011 for playing the Facebook co-founder in “The Social Network.” Eisenberg has been open about his desire to distance himself from Zuckerberg as much as possible, after being so closely associated with the controversial figure for over a decade.

There is, consequently, already a lot of scrutiny surrounding Strong’s performance. The reactions to the film’s first trailer included more than a few jokes about Strong having either an Oscar or a Razzie in his future. Speaking with GQ, Strong acknowledged those jokes and seemed to shrug them off.

“I thought that was the greatest endorsement,” the actor said. “Listen, I’ll be sad if I win a Razzie, but that’s the place you want to be. That’s the wager you have to make. To me, that means, ‘Okay, I put it on the line enough.’”

“The Social Reckoning” is slated to hit theaters on Oct. 9.

After appearing as a nurse on Larry David’s HBO series Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness last week in the final episode, Romy Reiner‘s resumé is expanding in 2026 with a starring role opposite Carter Jenkins and Emmy nominees Sharon Lawrence and Matt Walsh in Getting to That Age.

The short film comes from fledgling filmmaker Tristen Tarp, who directed from her own script. Getting to That Age casts Reiner as an anxiety-ridden only child who returns home for the holidays to announce her engagement, only to discover that her parents are set to divorce. The story is meant to explores the collision between personal milestones and family upheaval. See the short’s first teaser and a selection of first-look images below.

Tarp, who has also worked as a playwright, helmed Getting to That Age after another previous short, her debut Bark starring Monica Potter, Alfonso Caballero and Jennifer Sherer.

“Bringing together this cast and creative team was a rewarding journey that meant a great deal to me. Between Sharon’s incredible emotional gravitas, Carter’s natural instinct for toeing the line between humor and cynicism, and Romy and Matt’s dry wit, this talented ensemble perfectly captured the nuance that this family dynamic demanded,” Tarp said in a statement. “I’m deeply proud of how this story illustrates society’s perceptions of aging, relationships, and success, and I’m eager for audiences to see how it sparks reflection and introspection.”

The short was produced by Marked Atlas Pictures, Jumpsuit Pictures and Frances Komoda. Executive producer credits belong to Tarp, Geneva Willis, Beck Bennion, Sami Moughrabie, Charles Mudd, Katherine Mudd and Hailey Bailey with associate producer credits belonging to Madi Walser and Shalyn Delhaes.

Reiner has worked on other short films like The Underwater Halloween Movie, Pterry, Whole and the upcoming The Auschwitz Bagel. She’s been seen in projects like Things Like This, You People, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Voices. She was most recently seen throwing out the first pitch at a Los Angeles Dodgers game alongside brother Jake Reiner, marking the siblings’ highest-profile outing after their parents, Hollywood icon Rob Reiner and wife Michele, were tragically killed last December.

Jenkins’ credits include Famous in Love, Women of the Movement, The Shadow Diaries, Mad Men, The Following, Sweet/Vicious, After Ever Happy, After Everything and Paws in the City.

Both Walsh and Lawrence are veteran, Emmy-nominated actors. Walsh’s credits include Veep, The Hangover, Reno 911!, Players, Outsourced, Hung, The Do-Over, Ghostbusters, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Ghosts, The Conners and many more. Lawrence has starred on NYPD Blue, Fired Up, Ladies Man, Monk, The Line, One Tree Hill, Rizzoli & Isles, The Ranch, Me, Myself & I, Shameless, Criminal Minds, Rebel, Dynasty, Joe Pickett, Walker and many more.