Mark Zuckerberg's 'awkberg' SNL debut
Jesse Eisenberg, who portrays the Facebook founder in "The Social Network," was hosting "Saturday Night Live" when the real Zuckerberg showed up... prepared to be funny
The video: Jesse Eisenberg, who plays Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, was in the middle of his opening monologue as host of "Saturday Night Live" when he was interrupted, first by SNL funnyman Andy Samberg pretending to be Zuckerberg, then by Zuckerberg himself. (View video below.) Zuckerberg's cameo was the first time he and Eisenberg had met (besides the SNL dress rehearsal), and Samberg summed up the meeting as "awkberg" before leaving the two men alone on stage to finish the monologue.
The reaction: The Eisenberg-Zuckerberg meeting was "surprising," says Hadley Freeman in The Guardian. Not only is Zuckerberg famously "publicity-averse," he's also known to hate both The Social Network and Eisenberg's portrayal of him as a "twitchy and cruel nerd." But, says Charlie White in Mashable, maybe that's why the two shared "a seemingly heartfelt hug to show all was forgiven." If the point of the cameo "was to show Zuckerberg's sense of humor," as rumored, "he did an excellent job." I don't know, says Dean Takahashi in VentureBeat. "It wasn't much of a comedy routine," but any "effort that makes Zuckerberg more likable" is probably good for Facebook's eventual public stock offering. Watch the clip:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
5 hilariously spirited cartoons about the spirit of Christmas
Cartoons Artists take on excuses, pardons, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Inside the house of Assad
The Explainer Bashar al-Assad and his father, Hafez, ruled Syria for more than half a century but how did one family achieve and maintain power?
By The Week UK Published
-
Sudoku medium: December 22, 2024
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff Published