History Trivia / TheSocialNetwork

* FollowTheLeader: The film's trailer creatively used an ''a cappella'' cover of Music/{{Radiohead}}'s "Creep" (sung by Belgian girls' choir Scala and Kolacny Brothers) to haunting effect; many viewers praised it as one of the most memorable movie trailers in years, and several critics credited it with managing to get audiences interested in a movie about the founding of Website/{{Facebook}} -- which could easily have been [[AudienceAlienatingPremise a boring premise]] otherwise. In the years since, various other films and TV shows have borrowed that technique for trailers, with so many examples cropping up that they eventually solidified as the MoodyTrailerCoverSong trope, with this film's trailer being cited as the TropeCodifier.

** Creator/JesseEisenberg and Creator/AndrewGarfield were both 26 at the time of filming, playing 19-year-old Zuckerberg and 21-year-old Saverin respectively, though they also play the characters a couple years down the line (2007?) in the FramingDevice.

* What with the developments in the stories of Zuckerberg and Facebook since the film's release, a sequel to the film has been more than purely speculative for some time now. In July 2019, Eisenberg confirmed interest in being involved only if Sorkin writes, and in October 2020, Sorkin confirmed interest in writing only if Fincher directs.

** Divya Narendra also stated in spite of his surprise at seeing himself [[RaceLift portrayed by the non-Indian actor]] Max Minghella, he liked his performance.
** Sean Parker was asked for comment on his portrayal, and observed "I ''wish'' I was that cool."

* BlackSheepHit: Fincher sees the movie as this and is amazed that this became his most commercially and critically successful film, when it's so different from his other films and what he's interested in:

** The filmmakers couldn't shoot at Harvard and had to shoot at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. Some scenes were filmed at UCLA Film Schools in California. There are a few shots in the film that were sneak shoots of the greater campus area. A few places in the film were also sets.

* EnforcedMethodActing: David Fincher asked Creator/AndrewGarfield to spew insults towards Creator/JesseEisenberg just before the camera rolled, so in the surprise he'd go quicker into the Zuckerberg mindset.

** Indian-American Divya Narendra was played by English actor Max Minghella, who is of Italian, Scottish, and Chinese descent, not without [[RaceLift minor controversy]]. The DVDCommentary with the cast stated that Minghella was artificially tanned for the role, which lead to a hilarious moment when Armie Hammer and Josh Pence met the real Divya Narendra. They decided to introduce him to Minghella and convinced him (as a joke) to speak in a thick MysticalIndia accent. Upon hearing him, Minghella turned white and spent the next 30 minutes apologizing profusely for his performance.

* StarMakingRole: For Creator/RooneyMara, Creator/JesseEisenberg, Creator/AndrewGarfield, and Creator/ArmieHammer. It was also the movie that established Music/JustinTimberlake as a professional actor rather than a singer who can act. All of them were little known when this film was made but they became known names after, and the film is now considered to have an AllStarCast.

* All three leads -- Creator/JesseEisenberg, Creator/AndrewGarfield and Music/JustinTimberlake -- have had Creator/EmmaStone as their onscreen love interest, in ''Film/{{Zombieland}}'', ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'' and ''Film/FriendsWithBenefits'', respectively.

* Mark Zuckerberg offered a mixed reaction to the film for a variety of reasons both during its creation and after release. Upon first being told of its production, he expressed dismay at the idea of a film about him being made while he was still alive. More apprehension came when the script was later leaked, revealing that the film would not portray Mark in a completely positive light, to which he iterated that he wanted to establish himself as a "good guy". Initially vowing to never see it, he eventually rented out an entire theater to watch it with his employees. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qfcWSZAHvM&ab_channel=BizBuzz He went on public record]] verifying the accuracy of his on-screen wardrobe, and later appeared in a ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' episode hosted by Eisenberg (the first time the two had met), reportedly complimenting Eisenberg on his performance later on. However, he took far less kindly to (and was most vocal about) the film's artistic liberties -- [[RealitySubtext probably because they hit a little too close to the mark]].

* DoingItForTheArt: All of the extra money and work that went into making the Winklevoss twins identical to each other. Using CGI to painstakingly replace one actor's face with another's in every one of his scenes would be expected in, say, a big-budget science-fiction movie. But in a {{biopic}} about the founding of Website/{{Facebook}}? [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality It's unlikely that anyone would have complained (or noticed) if the actors playing the Winklevosses hadn't been completely identical, or if Fincher had just cast actual twins that weren't the spitting images of the real guys]], but Fincher went the extra mile to add another layer of realism to the movie that nobody really expected.

** Indian-American Divya Narendra was played by English actor Max Minghella, who is of Italian, Scottish, and Chinese descent, not without [[{{RaceLift}} minor controversy]]. The DVDCommentary with the cast stated that Minghella was artificially tanned for the role, which lead to a hilarious moment when Armie Hammer and Josh Pence met the real Divya Narendra. They decided to introduce him to Minghella and convinced him (as a joke) to speak in a thick MysticalIndia accent. Upon hearing him, Minghella [[OhCrap turned white]] and spent the next 30 minutes apologizing profusely for his performance.

** Creator/JesseEisenberg and Creator/AndrewGarfield were both 26 at the time of filming, playing 19-year-old Zuckerberg and 21-year-old Saverin respectively; though they also play the characters a couple years down the line (2007?) in the FramingDevice.

* DyeingForYourArt: Music/JustinTimberlake lost 20 pounds in order to look younger, Max Minghella tanned his skin [[FakeNationality to play an Indian-American]], and Josh Pence and Armie Hammer (the Winkelvi) were sent off to a sort of boot camp in order to train as rowers and learn each other's physical mannerisms.

--> '''Fincher''': It’s a little glib to be a film. Let’s hope we strove to get at something interesting, but ''Social Network'' is [[ItsNotSupposedToWinOscars not earth-shattering]]. ''Film/{{Zodiac}}'' was about murders that changed America. After the Zodiac killings in California, the Summer of Love was over...No one died during the creation of Facebook. By my estimation, [[FirstWorldProblems the person who made out the worst in the creation of Facebook still made more than 30 million dollars]]...And besides, on ''Social Network'', [[MagnumOpusDissonance I didn’t really agree with the critics’ praise]]. It interested me that ''Social Network'' was about friendships that dissolved through this thing that promised friendships, but I didn’t think we were ripping the lid off anything. The movie is true to a time and a kind of person, but I was never trying to turn a mirror on a generation.

* All three leads: Creator/JesseEisenberg, Creator/AndrewGarfield and Music/JustinTimberlake, have had Creator/EmmaStone as their onscreen love interest, in ''Film/{{Zombieland}}'', ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderman'' and ''Film/FriendsWithBenefits'', respectively.

** Divya Narendra also stated in spite of his surprise at seeing himself [[RaceLift portrayed by the non-Indian actor]] Max Minghella, he liked the performance.

** Creator/ArmieHammer stated that the instant he heard that a new Creator/DavidFincher film was in production, he went to his agent and said that he had to be in it in some way, shape or form, even if it meant making coffee on set. While his agent initially told him to keep his expectations in check, he later found out that the film needed a guy who was 6'5; Hammer just so happened to ''be'' 6'5, and the rest is history.
* BlackSheepHit: Fincher sees the movie as this and is amazed that this became his most commercially and critically successful film, when it's so different from his other films, and what he's interested in:

* CastTheRunnerUp: Creator/AndrewGarfield auditioned for Mark Zuckerberg but he was deemed too emotional for the role -- so he got cast as Eduardo Saverin instead.

* DVDCommentary: Creator/DavidFincher basically gives a film school masterclass, and at one point tells viewers to take it up with writer Creator/AaronSorkin if they have complaints about a certain scene, and provides the latter's email address (which is bleeped out).

* FollowTheLeader: The film's trailer creatively used an ''a cappella'' cover of Music/{{Radiohead}}'s "Creep" (sung by Belgian girls' choir Scala and Kolacny Brothers) to haunting effect; many viewers praised it as one of the most memorable movie trailers in years, and several critics credited it with managing to get audiences interested in a movie about the founding of Website/{{Facebook}}--which could easily have been an AudienceAlienatingPremise otherwise. In later years, several other films and TV shows have tried to borrow that technique for trailers, with so many examples cropping up that they eventually solidified as the MoodyTrailerCoverSong trope, with ''The Social Network''[='=]s trailer being cited as the TropeCodifier.

** According to the DVDCommentary, [[https://youtu.be/yAfC_CNDxLc?t=44s the dorky little dance Eduardo does as he approaches Mark at the Caribbean Night party]] was improvised by Creator/AndrewGarfield--and it's how the crew knew that Garfield was destined for greatness as an actor.

** After failing to find suitable twin actors, David Fincher was originally going to have Josh Pence use his own face and voice for Tyler Winklevoss and have the twins be fraternal. However, Fincher decided the twins had to be identical to reflect real life so they went with the doubling Armie Hammer's face on Pence's body.

** While Mark Zuckerberg described the movie as "hurtful" and "fabricated", he seemingly had nothing against Creator/JesseEisenberg's portrayal of him, even appearing on a ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' episode hosted by Eisenberg to call him an "evil twin" (while [[YourCostumeNeedsWork mocking the show's own]] Creator/AndySamberg playing Zuckerberg).

** Indian American Divya Narendra was played by English actor Max Minghella, who is of Italian, Scottish, and Chinese descent, not without [[{{RaceLift}} minor controversy]]. The DVDCommentary with the cast stated that Minghella was artificially tanned for the role, which lead to a hilarous moment when Armie Hammer and Josh Pence met the real Divya Narendra. They decided to introduce him to Max Minghella and convinced him (as a joke) to speak in a thick MysticalIndia accent. Upon hearing him, Minghella [[OhCrap turned white]] and spent the next 30 minutes apologizing profusely for his performance.

** Indian American Divya Narendra was played by English actor Max Minghella, who is of Italian, Scottish, and Chinese descent, not without [[{{RaceLift}} minor controversy]]. The DVDCommentary with the cast stated that Minghella was artificially tanned for the role, which lead to a hilarous moment when Armie Hammer and Josh Pence met the real Divya Narendra. They decided to introduce him to Max Minghella and convinced him (as a joke) to speak in a thick SimSimSalabim accent. Upon hearing him, Minghella [[OhCrap turned white]] and spent the next 30 minutes apologizing profusely for his performance.