Jesse Eisenberg: 5 Awesome Performances & 5 That Sucked

1. Mark Zuckerberg - The Social Network (2010)

Come on, admit it: when you heard a film was being made about the founding of Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg, you probably rolled your eyes and went ‘Like that will ever work’. It’s okay, we all did it.

But what fools we were! Backed by the dream team of writer Aaron Sorkin and director David Fincher, The Social Network turned out to be a modern masterpiece – and key to its success is the portrayal of Zuckerberg himself by Eisenberg.

The core traits that made Eisenberg a solid performer in everything I’ve listed so far - his nervous energy layered over quietly confident genius – was the perfect fit for Zuckerberg’s multifaceted personality. He simmers as he creates Thefacebook as a young student, boiling over years later as he clashes with former pal and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, played by future Spider-Man Andrew Garfield (quick bit of trivia: Garfield hooked up in real-life with Eisenberg’s on-screen Zombieland crush Emma Stone, for all you six degrees of separation fans out there.)

Among a flawless cast, Eisenberg is the driving force, putting in a performance as revelatory and influential as the entrepreneur he plays. He paints an admirable, despicable, heartless, emotional, passionate, cold picture of Zuckerberg – ensuring The Social Network will be a classic for decades to come.

But despite his extreme highs, Eisenberg has also put some real stinkers onto the big screen. Here are 5 that sucked…