History Trivia / TheSocialNetwork

* ApprovalOfGod: 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). 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 wrote him off as overambitious, 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.

* ApprovalOfGod: While Mark Zuckerberg described the movie as "hurtful" and "fabricated", but 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). 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.

** 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 would go places.

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

* StarMakingRole: For Creator/RooneyMara, Creator/JesseEisenberg, Creator/AndrewGarfield, 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.

* 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. He verified 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]].
* What with the developments in the story 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.

* FollowTheLeader: Back in 2010, 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, resulting in multiple other trailers also using haunting, minimalistic covers of pop songs, often sung by female vocalists. Examples include the trailers for ''Film/XMenApocalypse'' (which uses a cover of Music/{{Coldplay}}'s "Don't Panic"), Season 1 of ''Series/{{Gotham}}'' (which uses a cover of Music/TearsForFears' "Shout"), ''Film/PowerRangers2017'' (which uses a cover of Music/JohnnyCash's "Walk the Line"), and ''Film/GhostInTheShell2017'' (which uses a cover of Music/DepecheMode's "Enjoy the Silence").

* Mark Zuckerberg offered a mixed reaction to the finished film. 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. Initially vowing to never see it, he eventually rented out an entire theater to watch it with his employees. While he verified the accuracy of his on-screen wardrobe, and reportedly later complimented Eisenberg on his performance, he took far less kindly to the film's artistic liberties -- [[RealitySubtext probably because they hit a little too close to the mark]].
* What with the [[TheNewTens 2010s]] developments in the story of Zuckerberg and Facebook, 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.

* ThrowItIn: 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 would go places.

--> '''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.

* What with the developments in the story of Zuckerberg and Facebook TheNewTens brought us, 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.

* Mark Zuckerberg offered a mixed reaction to the finished film. 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. Initially vowing to never see it, he eventually rented out an entire theater to watch it with his employees. While he verified the accuracy of his on-screen wardrobe, and reportedly later complimented Eisenberg on his performance, he took far less kindly to the film's artistic liberties. [[RealitySubtext Probably because they hit a little too close to the mark]].

** Joseph Mazzello admitted that part of the reason he took the role of Dustin Moskovitz was because he was exhausted from filming ''Series/ThePacific'' and thought playing a college student would be fun.

* DyeingForYourArt: Justin Timberlake 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.

** American-born and UK citizen Andrew Garfield playing Brazilian-born Eduardo Saverin.

* HeroOfAnotherStory[=/=]VillainOfAnotherStory[[note]]depending on whether you're anti- or pro-UsefulNotes/{{Copyright}}, or if you were a teen or college kid around 1999-2002[[/note]]: Sean Parker, who in this film saw the potential of Facebook and was an early investor in it. Before that, he had founded Napster, the first peer-to-peer file sharing service for music, with Shawn Fanning. ([[HeAlsoDid He also had a string of other projects which didn't come to such notoriety.]])

** Jesse Eisenberg, previously known for playing dorky characters, plays an antisocial jerk.

* PlayingTheirOwnTwin: Armie Hammer plays both of the Winklevoss twins -- well, sort of. He played all of Cameron, and Josh Pence played the body of Tyler, with Hammer's head digitally added in post-production.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: By the time the final draft of the script was completed, executives decided that it was too long and needed to be trimmed down. Fincher didn't want to cut anything, so instead he had 90% of the dialogue spoken as fast as humanly possible to cut down on the run time. This created the film's breakneck pace and quickly became one of the most famous parts of the movie.

* ThrowItIn: According to the commentary, [[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 Andrew Garfield--and it's how the crew knew that Garfield would go places.
** Jesse Eisenberg came up with the idea of doodling on a notepad during the depositions.

** The opening credits were originally going to be scored to Music/{{Pulp}}'s "Common People" until David Fincher realized the irony of using a song nostalgic to ''him'' in a movie meant to capture the zeitgeist of 21st century youth.

* Mark Zuckerberg offered a mixed reaction to the finished film. 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. Initially vowing to never see it, he eventually rented out an entire theater to watch it with his employees. While he verified the accuracy of his on-screen wardrobe, and reportedly later complimented Eisenberg on his performance, he took far less kindly to the film's artistic liberties.

* AwesomeDearBoy: Joseph Mazzello admitted that part of the reason he took the role of Dustin Moskovitz was because he was exhausted from filming ''Series/ThePacific'' and thought playing a college student would be fun.

--> '''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."

** Jesse Eisenberg, previously known for playing {{adorkable}} characters, plays an antisocial jerk.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: While the film's portrayal of Zuckerberg depicts him as seriously flawed and Facebook's rise to power as having broken a few eggs, it looks downright rosy and revisionist next to the kind of massive scandals Facebook would pick up in the following few years. Zuckerberg's characteristically Sorkin portrayal as a quick-witted snarker doesn't at all resemble his later memetic image, codified in Senate hearings, as [[NoSocialSkills a weird, awkward creep unfamiliar with human emotion]], while things like screwing over an old business partner doesn't even come close to the accusations of stealing data from countless users, influencing Presidential elections with foreign dollars, letting hate speech and extremist groups run rampant, and being complicit in the Rohingya genocide.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: While the film's portrayal of Zuckerberg depicts him as seriously flawed and Facebook's rise to power as having broken a few eggs, it looks downright rosy and revisionist next to the kind of massive scandals Facebook would pick up in the following few years. Zuckerberg's characteristically Sorkin portrayal as a quick-witted snarker doesn't at all resemble his later public image as having NoSocialSkills, while things like screwing over an old business partner doesn't even come close to the accusations of stealing data from countless users, influencing Presidential elections with foreign dollars, letting hate speech and extremist groups run rampant, and being complicit in the Rohingya genocide.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: While Sorkin and Fincher could have never foreseen the constant controversy and tumult Facebook would find itself in since about 2015, the conflict in the film and its commentary on Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg comes off as extremely quaint and dated. What's screwing a business partner over got on allowing foreign entities to meddle in a US election, or being complicit in genocide in Myanmar? That said, it makes Erica's line about how Mark may become successful but people (or at least girls) will still think he's an asshole somewhat prophetic.

** The story moves to Palo Alto and Menlo Park (where Facebook relocated to) for the last act, but the scenes there were actually shot in Los Angeles.

* CaliforniaDoubling: 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.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: While Sorkin and Fincher could have never foreseen the constant controversy and tumult Facebook would find itself in since about 2015, the conflict in the film comes off as extremely quaint and dated. What's screwing a business partner over got on allowing foreign entities to meddle in a US election, or being complicit in genocide in Myanmar? That said, it makes Erica's line about how Mark may become successful but people (or at least girls) will still think he's an asshole somewhat prophetic.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: While Sorkin and Fincher could have never foreseen the constant controversy and tumult Facebook would find itself in since about 2015, the conflict in the film comes off as extremely quaint and dated. What's screwing a business partner over got on being complicit to genocide in Myanmar? That said, it makes Erica's line about how Mark may become successful but people (or at least girls) will still think he's an asshole somewhat prophetic.

* Mark Zuckerberg offered a mixed reaction to the finished film. Initially vowing to never see it, he eventually rented out an entire theater to watch it with his employees. While he verified the accuracy of his on-screen wardrobe, and reportedly later complimented Eisenberg on his performance, he took far less kindly to the film's artistic liberties.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: While Sorkin and Fincher could have never foreseen the constant controversy and tumult Facebook would find itself in since about 2015, the conflict in the film comes off as extremely quaint and dated. What's screwing a business partner over got on being complicit in genocide in Myanmar? Nothing. Some quotes, however, come off as oddly prophetic for the trouble the company and Zuckerberg would find later on down the road.
-->'''Erica:''' You are probably going to be a very successful computer person. But you're going to go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a nerd. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won't be true. It'll be because you're an asshole.

** Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield 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.

** The opening credits were originally going to be scored to Pulp's "Common People" until David Fincher realized the irony of using a song nostalgic to ''him'' in a movie meant to capture the zeitgeist of 21st century youth.