Best Film: The Social Network
Max Winkler (the director of ‘Ceremony’ which stars Michael Angarano), talks about Jesse in a new interview. Here are some excerpts:
Jesse Eisenberg was originally going to lead the film. What was it like when he was attached?
Michael was going to play Marshall and Jesse was going to play Sam, and things were written for those characters with those two in mind. The three of us would even do readings in my living room for that.
But then Eisenberg had to leave for “The Social Network”…. but Angarano really knocked it out of the park.
Right. He didn’t even know he’d play that part, and he destroyed. When you see Michael at the end and he’s screaming at her, it’s perfect. Sam is a hard character for some because he’s an asshole, and if you can’t get past that then there’s nothing that I can do. But he carries the movie, he’s literally moving the camera with him, and the amount of energy that he has to have with him in the beginning, this false sense of confidence, is difficult to conjure. Michael doesn’t have that in real life, he’s actually sort of quiet and more like his character in “Snow Angels,” but he was in an emotionally crazy place in the movie. For him to show that explosive, manic energy is inspiring, and it inspired everyone on set. He set the tone for the shoot.
Anybody else you had in mind for the cast that you couldn’t get? Or someone maybe for a future script?
Nobody else in mind, but I’ve always wanted to work with Michael Cera again, and we’ve talked about it, but that’s it. Jesse Eisenberg’s a good friend of ours too, and he’s a very inspiring guy and a great writer.